Boring
by AiraSora
Summary: "You're bored with her, aren't you?" the strange girl asked me. I wanted to tell her that Lila was perfect for me. I had fought for her attention for years and now she was finally my girlfriend, but it felt like I was still trying to win her heart. Something was missing and that something could be this excitement I felt whenever I looked in the blue eyes of this strange girl.
1. Curiosity

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Boring"**

 **Summary:** _ **"You're bored with her, aren't you?" the strange girl asked me. I wanted to tell her that Lila was perfect for me. I had fought for her attention for years and now she was finally my girlfriend, but it felt like I was still trying to win her heart. Something was missing and that something could be this excitement I felt whenever I looked in the blue eyes of this strange girl.**_

 **Author's 1st note: So! I… don't think I have much to say for the first author's note as much as this is probably not going to be a _very_ long story as such. It does have potential to be very long though so I'll see how much I can come up with. Frankly, right now, this chapter is all I have already planned out and that makes me nervous because I usually have a long ass note with ideas for the story before I start writing it, but I couldn't contain myself with this first chapter ****xD Oh, and the chapter is a hint to P!nk's song "Boring" so… yeah xD**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 1: "Curiosity"

"And it's as easy as that. Do you understand now, Lila?" I asked the red-haired girl next to me.

"Yes, I believe I do. Thank you ever so much, Arnold. You're a wonderful teacher." Lila told me as she fiddled with one of her braids. She was smiling brightly as she grabbed her pencil and started writing in her notebook, occasionally looking at the math formula I had just explained to her.

I rested my chin in my hand as I gazed at her. Lila was absolutely beautiful in every single way. She had soft red hair, big lovely hazel eyes and her face was adorned with the cutest freckles. She was sweet, funny and a perfect lady to everyone. She was everything I wanted in a girl and she was finally my girlfriend. I'd had a crush on Lila ever since she entered our class in 4th grade. We had tried dating for about a week back then, but we were young and didn't really know what we wanted so we ended it.

Now, seven years later, I was still completely smitten with this perfect girl and after countless tries to get her to like me back, she had finally agreed to go out with me. Everyone in our class was so happy for us when we told them and we sorta became the official sweetheart mascots of our class. It was pretty embarrassing if you thought about it, but I was just so happy to finally be with Lila.

Lila suddenly looked up at me through her long eyelashes. "Um… would you please not stare at me, Arnold? You're making me feel ever so self-conscious." She told me shyly.

I shook my head and felt myself blush. "Oh, I-I'm sorry, Lila. I didn't mean to stare." I said meekly and scratched my neck. "You just look so cute when you're all focused like that."

Lila smiled at my words and looked down in her notebook shyly. I could feel my heart pick up its pace as I leaned closer to her. When she looked at me again though, she pulled away from me. I flinched and leaned back.

"A-Arnold, not in public…" Lila said and put her hand in front of her mouth as if trying to protect it.

"Public?" I repeated and looked around in the library. "No one is around."

"St-Still, anyone could walk by any second…" Lila insisted and looked around.

Her behavior was perhaps a little paranoid, but I smiled apologetically at her anyway. "I'm sorry, Lila. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"Thank you." she said and looked up at the clock. "Oh! I'm going to be late for my ballet lesson! I have to go. Thank you so much for the help, Arnold. I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

Lila had packed her things into a bag as she had talked so she was jogging away before I could even reply. "Bye, Lila." I said anyway, hoping she had heard me despite the fact that I had to whisper because we were in a library. I leaned back in the chair and sighed, already missing Lila's presence.

"You should dump her like a bad habit."

I flinched violently at the sudden voice and I looked around frantically. I looked between the bookshelves and noticed something that wasn't the floor. I stood up from the table, walked around the bookshelf and looked down. A blonde girl was sitting on the floor with one leg bent and a book resting on her lap. Her blonde hair was tied into pigtails and she wore a pink bow. A loose white tank top with pink graffiti was hanging lazily down her shoulders and went to her hips. A pair of faded, blue jeans filled with rips and cuts covered her legs, and something told me they were simply worn down and she wasn't just followed the trend of wearing ripped jeans. I couldn't help but think that she was the complete opposite of Lila.

"Excuse me?" I said to the girl who was looking in her book as if she had been doing that this entire time, but it was clearly her who had made the comment. I wanted to give her a chance to take her words back, but she didn't even look at me.

"You're clearly bored with her so I said you should dump her." the girl explained and turned the page in her book. How could she still be reading while talking to me like that?

"Excuse me, but I don't even know you." I said in annoyance. Who did she think she was? She didn't know me and I was pretty sure she didn't know Lila either. Why did she even care?

"Doesn't really matter if you know me or not. I can still see that this Lila girl is too boring for you… even though I could only hear you." The blonde girl continued while her eyes kept scanning the words in the book. I looked at the cover and my eyes widened at the title. _The Canterbury Tales_ by Geoffrey Chaucer. I had never read it obviously, but I knew it was written in the 14th century and was considered one of the most challenging books to read because of the language.

"Are you… reading the translated version of that book?" I asked.

"No, this is Shakespearean."

My eyes went wide and my chin practically dropped to the floor. "Do you understand it?" I asked in utter shock. I could barely understand most of the books we were assigned in high school, never mind something from the 14th century. I wasn't stupid, not at all, but most people my age could not read Shakespearean if their lives depended on it. Clearly this girl hadn't gotten that message.

The girl kept looking at the book, but I could see her eyebrows knit together. "Why would I read something I can't understand?" she asked in complete bafflement. "That would be like trying to speak Japanese with Phoebe."

I didn't know who Phoebe was, but I didn't really care in that moment. "That's really impressive."

The girl shrugged. "I don't think it is, all you have to do is focus really…" she insisted which annoyed me. She made me feel like an idiot so I decided that she was just trying to be humble. "By the way, nice segue from your boring girlfriend, Football Head."

 _Football Head?_ I thought and felt the annoyance in me rise. "She's not boring!" I said a little too loudly and was hushed by the librarian whom I couldn't even see. "Lila's sweet, smart and funny."

"No arguments there. I overheard her telling this joke about not smelling a cow. It was hi-hi-hilarious." She said with little to no emotion in her voice, but I could still detect the seething sarcasm.

I knew exactly what joke she was talking about, Lila had been telling it since the 4th grade. "Ok, so maybe her jokes are getting a little old sometimes. Big deal. She's still smart."

"So smart that you had to explain her how a polynomial works." The girl pointed out.

"We can't all know everything." I argued. "She's the nicest girl I know."

"Oh, yeah, because real sweethearts uses their boyfriends to help them with their homework only to leave them behind without even a thank you kiss on their wide heads."

"She's shy about such things, ok?" I said, ignoring the comment about my head. "Which I actually think is pretty cute."

"Is that why you're twitching in frustration?" the girl asked with a smirk. "Got any other arguments why this girl isn't a complete bore?"

"She's not a bore!" I defended. "I feel safe with her, ok?"

"Oh, sure. Because feeling safe is so exhilarating." She said. I was about to argue back, but she continued talking. "Wait, I'm going to guess. Your life is a total chaos, your family's screwed up, you have no idea what you want to do with your life and this Lila girl is basically the one thing in your life that is consistent. So you're dating her because it's nice to be with a girl who has got it all together, is reliable and transparent as hell?"

"Where… Where do you even get this from? You don't know me and I bet you don't know Lila either!"

"I guess I'm not completely off though since your football-shaped head is getting red with anger." She said with a smirk.

"I am getting angry with you because you're interfering with something that's none of your business. Why do you even care?"

The girl hummed thoughtfully. "Probably because… of the same reasons humans study animals. We already know all the important stuff, but it's fun to see one particular rat make the same mistake over and over again." She explained with an arrogant tone in her voice.

I was completely taken aback. What was wrong with this girl? "Why am I even discussing this with a stranger?" I wondered aloud. "What do I care what _you_ think?"

"You don't." the girl said matter-of-factly. "You're trying to convince _yourself_ through me, but it's not going well so far."

I made a sound as if I was about to say something, but I changed my mind. "How can you be so sure that you're right about all this?" I asked instead and crossed my arms. She turned her back to me and put the book back in the shelf. I wondered if she had actually finished reading it or if she was going to come back to finish it later.

"I'm not, but like you said I don't really care and like _I_ said, I'm only guessing." She answered and stood up, still with her back turned to me. "That being said, my gut is usually right about these things. Trust me, you're gonna be bored off your ass with that girl in a month, Football Head."

I watched as the blonde girl left the library in a few quick strides. I listened as the door closed somewhat loudly, but it didn't come as a surprise. This blonde girl didn't seem to be the quiet or polite type after all so why would she bother closing a door gently? I groaned in disbelief at the conversation I just had. I leaned against the bookshelf, biting on my lip in frustration. What an infuriating girl. What kind of person drops bombs like that on strangers anyway?

I looked at the book she had put on the shelf and grabbed it. I opened it and scanned the first page, realizing that she hadn't been lying; she had in fact been reading it in Shakespearean. I shook my head in confusion and put it in its place before I went back to the table Lila and I had been using earlier and started packing my things. Once I had finished, I left the library to meet with some of the boys from my class. I had told them I'd meet them at Slausen's once Lila and I were finished with our study date.

On my way there, my conversation with the blonde girl kept repeated in my mind. I didn't for one second believe that she was right. How could I be bored with a girl who was so sweet and popular? Lila and I were similar in so many ways so I decided to just forget the blonde's words. What made her such an expert anyway?

* * *

"Hey, man! What took you so long?" Gerald asked me as I sat down next to him and the boys.

"How can you ask that? He was with Lila, they were probably hooking up behind a bookshelf." Sid joked.

"Miss Lila would never do something like that." Stinky insisted. "She's too much of a lady."

"You only thought of that because you're a pervert, Stinky." Harold insisted with his usual grin. He was one to talk; he was a bit of a pervert himself. Though no one could beat Sid of course.

"But did you have fun?" Eugene asked with his usual innocent smile.

"Yeah, Lila's fun to be around." I answered with a smile, but when I remembered the blonde girl I frowned.

"Are you sure that's how you feel?" Gerald asked me and I looked at him in confusion. "You look pissed somehow."

"Oh, that's not because of Lila. I just met this girl in the library and - - "

"Dude!" Sid interrupted. "Don't tell me you're cheating on Lila?"

"No!" I shouted loudly and earned the attention of everyone in the ice cream parlor. I apologized quickly and turned back to the boys. "It's nothing like that. When Lila left, this girl started saying really weird things to me."

"What kind of weird?" Harold asked.

"She started saying things like how I was bored with Lila."

"How can anyone be bored with Miss Lila?" Stinky asked in confusion and scratched his head.

"That's what I said too."

"Why did she say that?" Gerald asked with a curious look in his eyes.

"I don't know," I responded. "she just kept going on about how I was only dating Lila because she was safe or something."

"Do you know this girl?"

"I've never talked to her before in my life! I don't even know her name."

"Then why did she tell you that?" Harold asked.

I shrugged. "I really don't know… She was really weird too. She didn't even look at me once while we talked, she just kept reading _The Canterbury Tales_."

" _The Canterbury Tales_?" Eugene repeated with big eyes.

"What's _The Canterbury Tales_?" Harold asked in confusion.

"It's a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century. Most people can't understand half of them." Gerald answered. "She was reading the translated version, right?"

I shook my head which caused Eugene to gasp. "That is unbelievably impressive. She must be really smart!" he said with big, wondrous eyes.

"Maybe, but she was really arrogant. She basically said she didn't understand why others have such a hard time understanding it…" I replied, frowning as I remembered her words. "She insisted all you have to do is focus."

"No way is it that easy!" Gerald said. He was clearly just as offended as I had been.

"What an interesting girl…" Eugene muttered. I would have thought Eugene was getting a crush on this girl if it wasn't because he was gay. He wasn't completely out in the open though since he was a rather weak boy. He feared getting beaten up because of his sexuality, but we as his friends knew that he was gay of course. "Did you catch her name?"

I shook my head. "She doesn't know my name either… She kept calling me Football Head." I said with a frown.

"Football Head!" Harold repeated and laughed loudly. Sid and Stinky joined him while Eugene and Gerald tried to keep their laughter down to a minimum, but I could hear them snickering. "That's perfect! Man, I wanna meet that girl!"

"Well, you're gonna have to find her yourself. I hope I'll never see her again." I replied and started fiddling with the cup of coffee Gerald had ordered for me before I got here.

"What did she look like?" Sid asked curiously.

"Uh, she had blonde hair… which she had tied into pigtails." I started.

"Try kinky." Sid said with a smirk. We all looked at him as if he was insane. "Seriously, think about it! Why do you think school girls in porn movies always have pigtails? That's not a coincidence."

"So you're calling her a slut?" Gerald asked.

"No, I'm saying I think it's hot that a girl our age would have her hair in pigtails. Gives me something to grab unto." Sid said with a laugh.

I shivered at the image. "I doubt this girl would let you do that to her. Something tells me she has too much pride."

"A dominatrix is just fine too." Sid argued.

I shook my head, giving up on getting Sid's mind out of the gutter. I had never succeeded doing that before after all. "And she was wearing worn-down jeans and a white top with graffiti on it. Oh, and she was wearing a pink bow in her hair too." I continued and frowned when I remembered the bow. Somehow that bow had seemed so out of place on her. Not because it looked bad, in a way it was kind of cute, but maybe that was exactly why it seemed out of place.

"A bow?" Sid repeated. "That proves it; she belongs in a schoolgirl porn."

"She does not!" I insisted. "She's too much of a know-it-all."

"Oh, _Pornstar Punishment_ then." Sid corrected himself and snickered dirtily.

"That's it. I'm leaving." I declared and stood up from the couch, but Gerald grabbed me and pulled me back. "Can we at least change the subject?"

"Fine. How's it going with Lila?" Sid asked and I knew what he was asking about.

"We're having fun." I said and realized my mistake as soon as the dirty grin spread on Sid's face. "We're just hanging out right now! We only started dating a week ago, what's wrong with you?"

"You've been in love with her since 4th grade! There's no way you haven't imagined boinking her right?" Harold asked.

The question created a lump in my throat. I was 16-years-old, of course sex was on my mind, but if I had to be honest, Lila had yet to enter an actual sexual fantasy. Somehow, I felt dirty imagining her like that. She seemed too sweet, too innocent, too much like an actual angel… it was like imagining having sex with a child. Of course, I couldn't tell my friends that. I myself had a hard time accepting the fact that while I adored Lila, there was a part of me that was uncomfortable with the thought of doing anything more with her than kissing. Maybe I had been in the friend zone for so long that it felt weird even to me.

"Arnold, are you alright?" Stinky suddenly asked and waved his hand in front of my eyes.

I flinched and looked up at the boys again. "Oh, sorry. I spaced out for a moment." I admitted and they all, except for Eugene, smirked dirtily at me.

"I know what you were thinking." Harold said in a singsong voice.

"That's it. I'm seriously leaving this time." I declared and stood up. This time they didn't try to stop me and simply continued laughing. I threw some money in Gerald's way to pay for the coffee he had bought me and then left Slausen's. I sighed as I looked into the sky, imagining some clouds forming together into Lila's face. I smiled at the image before continuing down the street and my way home to Sunset Arms.

* * *

"You sure you wouldn't rather come with me to the arcade?" Gerald asked me on the phone.

I smiled. "Nah, Lila asked me to pick her up after her ballet lesson. I'm a little early though so I guess I'll finally get the chance to see her in action." I replied.

"And you're sure you wouldn't rather go play games?"

"Come on, Gerald."

"I'm just saying." Gerald said and snickered. "See ya' tomorrow, man."

"See you." I replied and hung up. I looked up at the dance studio in front me that with the big sign saying _Les Cygnes Gracieux_. I wasn't sure what it meant, but I knew this was the address Lila had given me. I walked inside and followed the music until I reached a room. I wondered if I should knock, but thought that might be more of a disturbance than if I just walked in. I opened the door gently and closed it silently behind me.

I was inside a big room with mirrors on every wall. The floor was made of pale wood and the dancers were twirling around on it. I stayed out of their way as I looked for Lila. When I saw her, she noticed me as well and smiled. She continued dancing as she cocked her head to the side. I walked in that direction and sat down on the floor. I looked at Lila in awe. She was so graceful and pretty in her movements. She looked like she was made for ballet. My eyes traveled to the other dancers and I noticed that there was only two guys here. Not a big surprise all things considered.

"Make room for Helga now." The teacher said with a thick Russian accent. She looked pretty uptight, with her dark blonde hair that was tied into a bun so tight that the skin of her face seemed to be pulled back as well. The dancers moved to their designated places, which caused a particular girl to be in the middle of everyone. My eyes widened at the way she was moving. Unlike Lila, she wasn't as elegant. Her movements seemed angry, but passionate. The teacher was smiling as she looked at her so I assumed she was supposed to dance like that.

I felt mesmerized as I looked at the blonde dancer. There was something undeniably dark about the way she was dancing. I wasn't good at reading between the lines or understand things that were never clarified, but somehow I knew that this girl was playing the role of either a villain or someone who was at a crossroad. Perhaps even both.

The music ended dramatically and the girl named Helga dropped to the ground in what looked like despair. Once the room was silent, the teacher gave a clap. "Marvelous, Helga. Simply marvelous. Take five, everyone. Helga, you come over here." She said. Helga moved her legs to her chest and jumped unto her feet. It was definitely not a ballet move, but it had seemed so easy when she did it.

"Arnold!" I heard Lila's voice say giddily and I saw her skip towards me. She sat down next to me and I almost gave her a kiss, but reminded myself that other people were here. "You're early."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I just couldn't wait." I said with a big smile and looked back at the dancers who were all stretching while chatting with each other. "Are you sure it's ok that you're talking to me?"

"Why, yes. Ever so much. I will just stretch while talking with you." Lila said and went into a perfect split. She leaned over her left leg and grabbed her foot with both of her hands. "Did you like our dance?"

"Yes, I was really shocked. What ballet is it?"

" _Princess Tutu_." Lila said with an excited grin. "I'm going to be Princess Tutu."

"So you're the main character?" I asked with a big smile.

"Well… both yes and no." Lila replied uncertainly, but the smile never left her face as she leaned over her right leg. "Princess Tutu is the heroine, but Princess Kraehe is a much more difficult role to play."

"Kr-Krere?"

"Kraehe." Lila corrected in a giggle. "Princess Kraehe is the villainess. Her dances are much more difficult than Princess Tutu. I could never do what Helga is doing."

"Helga? That was the girl who was dancing alone before, right?"

"Yes," Lila answered and looked towards her teacher. "Mademoiselle Pavlova had no doubt in her mind that Helga was perfect as Princess Kraehe. Not only is she an ever so magnificent dancer, she also has the ability to look graceful during the more ruthless dances."

"Ruthless? What's the story?"

"Oh, it's ever so difficult to explain quickly, but…" Lila said and seemed to think about the simplest way to explain the plot to me. "Princess Tutu is in love with a Prince Mytho who has lost his heart so she is trying to restore it, but Princess Kraehe is also in love with him so and as long as he doesn't have his heart, she knows he won't leave her because without a heart he doesn't care who he is with and Kraehe believes Mytho will prefer Tutu. Then there is Fakir who is in love with Tutu and so, he helps her trying to restore Mytho's heart, but as they slowly restore Mytho's heart, Tutu realizes that she has fallen in love with Fakir. Mytho finally gets his heart back and it turns out that he loves Kraehe despite the darkness in her heart. Happy ending."

I blinked. "That… was kind of confusing."

Lila giggled. "I told you it was ever so hard to explain. There's a lot more to the story naturally, but those were the most important points." She said before the teacher grabbed her attention.

"Alright, ladies and Justin and Matt. Let's take it from Lila and Helga's final pas de deux." Mademoiselle Pavlova said and clapped a couple of times.

"That's my cue." Lila said as if apologizing for leaving me. She stood up and walked gracefully to the middle of the floor where Helga was already waiting for her. Both girls readjusted their buns before standing across each other on each side of the floor. I flinched when the dark music started. I recognized it even though ballet wasn't one of my hobbies. Lila had made me listen to some ballet music from time to time and I recognized this as the Nutcracker March, but it was much darker somehow. It sounded genuinely scary.

My eyes immediately went to Helga. She was bent like a doll that needed someone to straighten it and she moved edgily to the music. Opposite Lila who was moving swiftly, but still gracefully to the music. I watched the pas de deux in complete awe, comparing the two characters to each other. Even without knowing the plot, it was obvious that Lila's character was the good one while Helga played the villain. She wasn't just dancing the part, her face twisted into malicious grins from time to time and she seemed to get so into character that she actually gave me goosebumps.

The pas de deux ended with Lila on the floor, defeated by Helga who had a foot on her back. Her stare was cold and heart, but there was a sadness in it and I was astounded once more by her acting skills. The music died and everyone clapped, me included. The teacher praised the girls to the skies before declaring that the day was over and everyone could go home. Lila told me she would be back in a couple of minutes once she had changed and followed the girls out of the room.

I stayed behind, noticing that Helga didn't follow the others. With a smile, I approached her. "Hi. Helga, right?" I asked and she looked halfway at me in surprise. "I just wanted to say that your dancing… it was really amazing. I don't really know much about ballet, but the way you danced was really good. I actually understood the story somehow and that's saying something."

I laughed a bit shyly, wondering if she thought I was weird. She looked at the floor, smiling, but there was something gleeful about it. "You don't recognize me, do you?" she asked.

I frowned, looking her over. "Have we met before?" I asked in confusion.

The girl snorted. "I guess it's not that surprising. We did only talk for like two minutes and I never looked at you." She said as she untied her bun, letting her long blonde hair fall down to her hips. I watched in awe as she grabbed her hair in two hands. She turned to look at me properly, showing me the pigtails she had just made. "Remember me now?"

I stared at the girl, forgetting our conversation. I was completely lost in her light blue eyes that seemed to be shining like diamonds behind her eyelashes. Unlike Lila's, which were gentle, pretty and full of warmth, these eyes were deep and full of mystery. They seemed to be dragging me in, but when I realized who she was, it caused me to take a step back in surprise.

" _You_?!" I bellowed in shock and my chin almost dropped to the floor.

"Criminy, you should see your face!" Helga said in a laugh and let go of her hair. She held her stomach as she kept laughing. "I never thought I'd see you again. But I guess that's my fault; you were gonna pick Lila up here sooner or later, I guess."

"Bu-But, you said you didn't know her!"

"I never actually said that." Helga argued and stopped laughing. The smile stayed on her face though as she crossed her arms and I couldn't help but notice her blonde hair falling over her shoulders and chest.

"You didn't say that you _did_ know her!"

"Why would I? Would that have changed your mind about what I told you?"

"No!"

"I figured." Helga said and threw out her arms. She then looked over my shoulder. "Hey, Justin. You ready?"

I turned around and saw one of the boys approaching us. "Sure thing, Helga. Who's your friend?" he asked as he looked at me. "Oh, wait. You're the one who talked to Lila before, right? You Arnold?"

"Y-Yes, I'm Lila's boyfriend." I said and shook his hand.

"Why's your hair loose, Helga?" Justin asked once he had let go of my hair.

"Well, I ran into Arnold the other day and he didn't recognize me with my hair up like that." Helga explained before grabbing the hairband, which she had tied around her wrist when she had loosened her hair. She bent forward and put her hair into a bun again with perfectly skilled hands. Then she leaned back up again. "See ya', Football Head."

I couldn't help but stare at her as she followed Justin to the middle of the dance floor. They nodded at Mademoiselle Pavlova who smiled and turned the music back on. Again, Helga's face twisted into the malicious grin while Justin's face seemed more like that of a doll. Based on what Lila had told me about the story, I figured Justin must have been cast as the role of Mytho, the prince without a heart.

I could feel myself get hypnotized again as Helga danced around Justin in a way that couldn't be anything else but seductive. It seemed so odd, seductive ballet that is, but perhaps I only thought that way because I didn't know much about ballet. Helga was dancing around Justin and he was staring at her with indifferent eyes. She seemed to try so hard to get him to truly love her, but she knew it was in vain because he didn't have a heart to love with. Helga's dancing changed then with the music and became sad. She realized the mistake of choosing a man who could never love her back and despite knowing that Helga was supposed to be the villainess in this story, I felt sad for her.

I heard Lila's voice whisper my name gently and I looked towards her. I tiptoed over to her, still staring at Helga and Justin as I did so. "Why are they still dancing?" I whispered.

"Oh, like I said, Helga's parts are ever so much harder so she has to train for two full hours more than the rest of us."

 _Two hours?!_ I screamed inside my head. "W-What about the guy then?" I asked.

"Most of Justin's dances are with Helga since he is playing as Mytho. He only stays behind every other day while Helga is here every day."

"Every single day?" I questioned to which Lila nodded. She nudged at me to make me follow her and I did, but I watched Helga and Justin in the meantime. So Helga was not only a ballerina that was cast in the most difficult role in this particular ballet. In her free time she read Shakespearean novels and thought it was no big deal. Yet she was rude, offensive and a know-it-all. There was definitely more to this girl than I first though and I couldn't help but feel the curiosity soar through me.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: So! That was the very first chapter! As you may or may not have noticed, there are references in here so I'll explain them clearly. "Princess Tutu" is actually a Japanese anime that focuses on ballet. The story Lila said the ballet focuses on is not really, truly the story behind "Princess Tutu" as such as it's more how it could be interpreted maybe. Again, there's more to the anime than this ballet piece Les Cygnes Gracieux is going to perform.**

 **Another hint is Mademoiselle Pavlova. She is actually from the episode called "Dance lessons" in the show "Recess". How many of you thought of her when you read that name? xD I just thought it'd be funny to have her being the dance teacher though we probably won't hear much from her in this story as such.**

 **Oh, and as always, if anyone is inspired to draw something (perhaps a cover) for this story go right ahead! But I feel the need to add something this time: Lately, I have experienced that people get genuinely angry with me if I don't choose their drawing and I think that's really unfair because there's usually more than one person - who decides on their own - to draw something based on my stories. I can't very well choose everyone's drawings now can I? So please, if you don't think you can handle me _not_ choosing your drawing, just don't draw for me, ok? I don't want to hurt anyone, but I obviously can't have three different covers for the same story xD**


	2. Fascinating

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Boring"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **After my study date with Lila, a strange girl told me that I should dump her. She insisted that Lila was too boring for me, but how would she know? I mentioned this girl to the boys, but we didn't talk about her for too long. Not that their opinions or Sid's dirty jokes could ever change my mind about her or her words about how I should break up with Lila.**_

 _ **A couple of days later, I went to pick up Lila from her ballet lesson and noticed a blonde dancer who was undoubtedly the most talented one on the team. I didn't recognize her because her hair was in a bun, but she turned out to be the exact same girl who told me to end it with Lila. I didn't get the chance to scold her for her words, especially since she actually knew Lila, but I knew I didn't like this girl named Helga. Even if there was something interesting about her.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: Whoa! I got** _ **so**_ **much more response on that first chapter than I had ever imagined. It was crazy;** _ **11**_ **reviews just for that, I'm so happy! Cx**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 2: "Fascinating"

"I can't believe Mr. Simmons expects us to write a poem by tomorrow." Harold groaned.

"I can't believe he wants it to be at least 100 words!" Sid agreed.

"I can't believe you guys are still complaining." I declared. "Why are we going to the library anyway? How is that going to help us?"

"I guess they're hoping they can copy a poem from one of the books." Gerald whispered in my ear. I rolled my eyes, but I was smiling as I did so. Those guys would truly never change. "So, have you told Lila that her rival in ballet is also her rival in love?"

"Helga is not her rival in love because I have zero interest in her." I answered harshly. "Just because Helga thinks Lila is a bad choice for me doesn't mean she's right or she even knows what she's talking about. For all I know, she could be hoping that me breaking up with Lila would throw her off her game and she would screw up the ballet performance."

"But didn't Lila say that Helga is already considered the best dancer which was why she got that part with the funny name?"

"Kraehe." I stuttered. I had a hard time pronouncing it as well.

"But if Lila isn't her competition, why would she do that?"

"I… I don't know. I just don't get her. I don't care anymore, ok?" I insisted with a frown. I didn't want to care about what that Helga girl had said, but it bothered me. No one else had ever told me that Lila wasn't right for me. On the contrary, everyone agreed that we were the perfect couple. So why did this one person think otherwise? It was one thing when Helga had been a random stranger, but know it turned out that she actually knew Lila. That just confused me all the more.

The boys and I entered the library and Sid, Harold and Stinky instantly went to the left towards the poetry section. Eugene, Gerald and I stayed behind though. Gerald didn't intend to do this assignment from the beginning, Eugene had already finished and I, well, let's just say that actual poetry wasn't going to help me make a poem of my own. Something like poetry was way too difficult for me to understand. It was hard enough to understand metaphors in a story, but to understand them in poetry as well was close to impossible.

I didn't just want to stand around though so I went to the right, aimlessly walking around for a bit. When I turned around the first bookshelf though, I saw a slightly familiar sight in front of me. Helga was sitting on the floor once again, leaned against a bookshelf and with a book on her lap. Her hair was in pigtails once again, but this time her ripped pants were a darker shade of blue, her top was made of pink plaid and she was wearing a leather vest and black boots. She still had the pink bow in her hair.

I stared at Helga for a bit before walking backwards and leaned against the bookshelf. I looked to my right and saw Eugene and Gerald look at me questioningly. "Helga is here." I whispered.

"Really?" Eugene asked excitedly and walked past me. I tried to stop him, but he was already crouched next to Helga. "Hi, you're Helga, right?"

The blonde girl looked up at him in confusion and then noticed me and Gerald behind him. "Am I getting whacked?" she asked.

"What? No, of course not!" Eugene bellowed.

"Good." She declared, closed her book and put it back in the shelf. "Because I'm pretty sure I could beat you all anyway. I just don't want to get suspended."

Eugene ignored her pseudo-threat and grabbed the book she had just put back. "Oh, Arnold was right! You truly are reading _The Canterbury tales_! And untranslated as well. What other stories have you read in Shakespearean?" he asked excitedly.

"Uh… well, Shakespeare first of all."

"Which ones?"

"All of them."

"All of them?!" Eugene, Gerald and I all cried out in shock and the librarian hushed us.

"Hey, idiots!" Helga hissed. "Like I said, I don't want to get suspended from the library!"

"S-Sorry…" I muttered out of reflex and frowned at myself right away. Why was I apologizing to this girl? She had been nothing but a pain to me since she decided to interfere with my life.

"How come you like Shakespearean stories so much?" Eugene asked.

Helga shrugged. "There's an actual meaning to them in comparison to modern books. And you need a brain to understand them." She answered. She then looked at me and Gerald while she pointed at Eugene who kept grinning. "What's the deal with this nutcase? Why am I being interrogated?"

"Eugene was bitten by the Shakespeare bug when we were children. I guess he just doesn't know a lot of people our age who feels the same." Gerald explained briefly.

"Oh, I guess I can understand that." Helga said and showed a small smile. She then did something that made my eyes pop out. She put her legs high into the air, stretched elegantly and then put them back down on the floor one-by-one and stood up. The way she had done it might it seem like gravity didn't exist in her world, it seemed too perfect to be real. "What are you basket cases doing her?"

Gerald and I were too baffled by her way of getting off the floor to answer so Eugene answered for us. "We have a poetry assignment for tomorrow." He explained, put the book back and stood up from the floor as well. He stumbled on his way up though. Helga's reflexes were quick and she grabbed him by the hand before he knocked the bookshelf down. "I'm okay." He declared, but before he could thank her, she had already let go of his hand.

"Poetry, huh? And how is going to the library going to help you with that?" Helga asked as she crossed her arms, making that arrogant smirk I had started to connect to her face.

"Some of our friends are trying to find inspiration in other poems." Eugene explained, still surprised from having avoided one of his many infamous accidents.

"Oh, yeah. Because that's how you create something original; by finding inspiration in something someone else has written." Helga said and rolled her eyes.

I crossed my arms. "And I guess that besides being a love expert, you also specialize in poetry?"

"I have won a few poetry competitions, yeah." Helga responded matter-of-factly as if she hadn't noticed my condescending tone. I felt like punching something when she told me that. How many talents did this girl have?

"Really? Maybe you could help Arnold then." Eugene suggested. "I have already finished mine."

"What about Tall Hair Boy?" Helga asked, nodding towards Gerald.

"Tall hair boy?" Gerald repeated with a deep frown, but I couldn't help but snicker. It was just so nice to hear Helga make fun of someone else besides me. Gerald groaned. "I'm not gonna make this assignment anyway so you just focus on Arnold."

"If he wants my help, he's gonna have to ask for it himself." Helga said and looked at me. "Can you handle me giving you advice, Football Head?"

I wanted to shout _no_ until my throat would hurt and my lungs pop, but I knew I had little to no chance of writing a decent poem on my own. I could feel my insides crumble as I put my hand to my head and sighed. "Would you… please help me?" I begged.

When I looked at Helga, her face was painted with surprise. "I… didn't actually think that you'd ask me." she admitted. I gazed at her as I let my hand fall down from my head. I felt my chest tighten at the way she was looking at me until she smirked. "Sure. Wanna go over to the tables or will I taint your memories of Lila by going there?"

I rolled my eyes. For a moment I thought she had actually been kind. "Can we just forget about Lila for the next hour?" I requested.

"An hour? How much help do you need?" Helga asked in shock before she shook her head in disbelief and walked past me.

I was frowning in her direction before I looked back at Eugene and Gerald who were smiling at me either in sympathy or in glee. I pointed between them. "I'll get you back for this." I declared before following Helga around the bookshelf. She was already sitting down on one of the chairs and I looked at her posture curiously. Despite the fact that she had one leg bent between her chest and the table, her back was perfectly straight. She was a perfect mix of a typical tough girl and a ballerina. It was confusing to say the least. I sat down next to her and got my stuff out from my backpack. I grabbed a pencil and wrote down a few words on my notebook before looking at her. "Now what?" I asked.

Helga looked at me curiously. "You don't even know how to begin, do you?" she asked. I shook my head and she sighed. "Start by deciding what you want to write about. Did your teacher give you a theme?"

"No, he just told us to write a poem with 100 words in it. He didn't say anything about what kind of poem either."

"Ok, that gives you some freedom then. What do you want to write about?" Helga asked. I shrugged, admitting I really didn't know. "Oh, boy. Ok, it's usually a good idea to choose something you're passionate about. You could write about a hobby, a family member, a friend… how about Lila, actually?"

"Lila?"

"Yeah, write a love poem." Helga suggested. She sounded so serious that I couldn't help but laugh. "What's so funny, Football Head?"

"I-It's just… the first thing you told me when I met you was that you thought I should break up with Lila and now you're telling me to write a love poem about her." I explained, trying to conceal my laughter.

Helga looked at me for a few seconds before putting a fist up to her mouth. I could see her shaking and she was clearly holding back her own laughter. It made it harder for me to hold back my own laugh so I gave up and laughed loudly. I heard Helga join me for a second before the librarian hushed us.

"Fine, I see your point." Helga admitted and put her hand away. "But writing about someone you love is usually the easiest."

"I-I wouldn't say that I _love_ Lila." I insisted, feeling my cheeks flush at the mere word. "I-I care about her a lot, of course, but we've only been dating for a couple of weeks. I-It's a little too early to know if I love her or not…"

Helga looked at me curiously, tilting her head to the side as she did so. She looked like a puppy somehow. "I guess that makes sense." She agreed. "Ok, so Lila is a no-go. How about your parents?"

At the mentioning of my parents, I felt my heart twist into a knot. Helga seemed to notice instantly. "I… don't know my parents." I said as I stared at the notebook.

Helga was quiet for a while and I could see her turn her head to look at the table instead of me. "Are you adopted?"

I shook my head. "My… parents had to leave when I was 1-year-old so my grandparents raised me."

"Had to leave?" Helga repeated in surprise and looked at me. I turned my face away, biting on my lip. I hated being reminded of it and I just knew that she was going to keep questioning me until I answered. "If you don't want to talk about it, I won't force you."

Those words made my eyes go wide and I looked at Helga. I had waited my entire life for someone who wouldn't force this story out of me and here she was. She was gazing at me with a bit of sympathy, but mostly she just seemed genuinely understanding. The knot I had felt untightened and I almost smiled at her.

"But writing about them might still be a good idea." Helga said and that surprised me. "Poetry isn't always pretty, you know. It can be dark and gloomy if you want it to be. It's a good way to vent your feelings and you obviously feel something strong when you think about your parents."

I looked down at the notebook. "But… I still don't know how to start." I said, wondering in the back of my mind why I wasn't complete opposed to the idea of writing about my parents.

The older I got, the more I preferred to just not think about them. I didn't even look at my dad's journal anymore. After finding it when I was 9-years-old, I had been all pumped to go and find my parents, but it wasn't as easy as that. I was just a kid and a trip to San Lorenzo wouldn't have just been expensive, it was almost impossible. It wasn't like there was an airport in San Lorenzo and even if there was, I would have had to go through a jungle to find them. I had felt completely hopeless back then and as the feelings returned to me, I felt myself start to write.

Helga had been talking to me before I started scribbling, but I noticed that she got quiet once I started writing. "You still need help?" she asked in a semi-quiet voice.

"Maybe about the actual format…" I admitted and kept writing. I kept pouring my feelings and thoughts down on the paper and I couldn't help but wonder why Helga hadn't once leaned over to look at what I was writing. Everyone else I had ever met would have done so out of curiosity, but she stayed back, leaning against the chair patiently. It was oddly refreshing.

"You… do realize I have to look at your words to help you with the format, right?" Helga asked suddenly and that made me stop writing. I hadn't thought that far ahead and now I was unsure if I really wanted her help with the format. "I won't comment on it." she told me and I turned my head to look at her. "I won't react on what you've written and I'll never speak of it again. I promise that. Do you still want my help?"

I felt myself nodding before I could stop myself. Then I handed Helga the paper and she leaned over the table to look at what I had written. My handwriting was crude I noticed, but it didn't seem to bother her. Her eyes scanned the paper and I kept looking for a reaction of any sort, but she kept her promise. Her face was stone-hard until she took my pencil from me and took a clean piece of paper. She looked between my words and her own paper as she wrote ferociously.

I was gawking at Helga as she wrote. Her entire demeanor had changed, it was like she had become another person. It was the same kind of feeling you had when you saw someone you knew personally at their working place and you realize that they are quite good at it. Helga looked so professional and her hand was swift. Within a few minutes, she handed me her piece of paper and I looked at it in confusion.

"There's your assignment." Helga said and threw the pencil on the table. "You can use it for reference later on if you need to write more poems in the future."

"W-Wait!" I said as I kept looking at the poem in my hand. "Th-That's it? This is my poem? You did it just like that?"

"You want me to help you do it on your own instead?" Helga asked, but I shook my head violently. She shrugged. "That's what I figured. Hope it works out. See ya', Football Head."

I turned around in the chair to watch Helga go out of the library. Once she was gone, I looked down at the poem again. They were definitely my words and my feelings, but the way they had been set up was unbelievably poetic. She had changed my words here and there which created a sort of dynamic that even I could see clearly. I was in complete awe; how could she turn my messy, disorganized feelings into something so rhythmical and expressive? No wonder she had won competitions; she had a natural talent.

* * *

"Oh, Arnold. Can I talk to you?" Mr. Simmons asked me just as I had been about to leave the classroom with the guys. He was the only teacher to call his students by their first names. He was familiar like that, but didn't force us to call him by his first name. Which most of us didn't, but most of us had known him since we were children so he did kind of feel like part of our family at this point.

"Ooh, you in trouble?" Sid asked sarcastically and started laughing at the hilarity of his own question. "Yeah, right! Arnold in trouble."

"You gonna be ok, man?" Gerald asked as he patted my shoulder.

"Yeah, sure. See you later." I told the boys and waited for my classmates to leave the room. I then approached Mr. Simmons who was smiling brightly at me. "Yes, Mr. Simmons?"

"Arnold, I just want to praise you for your poem. It was very special." He said as he held the paper in his hand. "It was very brave of you to write about your parents this way."

"Oh, th-thank you…" I said shyly and looked away.

"I must ask though, and please don't take this the wrong way, but… did you have help writing this?" Mr. Simmons asked and then waved his hand. "I won't judge you badly for it if you have. We all need a little help once in a while."

"Well… I actually did have some kind of tutor." I said with a crooked smile.

"Oh, really? May I ask who?" Mr. Simmons asked curiously.

"It's someone named Helga, but I don't really know the rest of her name…" I admitted and frowned when I realized that I truly didn't know all that much about Helga. Despite that I had gotten a strong opinion of her already and now I felt kind of guilty. She _had_ helped me out with this poem after all and hadn't asked for anything in return.

"Helga Pataki?" Mr. Simmons asked with big eyes. "She's in one of my other classes. A very special young lady. Then it's no wonder your poem was so good."

"Pataki?" I repeated in confusion. I had never come across that surname before.

"Tell me, how did you convince her to teach you though? I have asked her to tutor some of her classmates for years, but she won't listen to me."

"Oh, I, uh… I actually just asked her." I confessed.

Mr. Simmons gawked at me as if I had just grown a second head. "Have you… known Helga for a long time?"

I shook my head. "I met her last week."

Mr. Simmons put his hand to his chin, looking away from me in deep though. "Interesting. Very interesting…" he mumbled, but then looked at me as if he had just remembered that I was still here. He shook his head. "Nevertheless, your poem was very special, Arnold. You can expect a high grade when I return the assignments tomorrow."

I thanked Mr. Simmons and walked out of the classroom. I stayed leaned against the door for a bit, contemplating what to do from now on. I was supposed to pick up Lila from her ballet lesson today and all things considered, Helga might ask me how it went with my poem. Though she had also promised to never mention it again, but that was probably only about the poem's content. I decided to take it as it came, it wasn't like I could just not pick up Lila. I had made a promise. Besides, I had kind of been looking forward to see them dance again.

* * *

I had been sitting in perfect silence, watching Lila and the others dance, when one of the boys approached me. It wasn't Justin from last time, but the other one. It was incredible how different those two looked. While Justin had a light, perfect complexion and short, blonde hair, this guy seemed more ruffled somehow. He had darker skin, but not as dark as Gerald's was, and black, unruly hair that went down to his shoulders.

"Hi, you're Lila's boyfriend, right?" he asked as he sat down next to me and offered his hand.

"Yes, I'm Arnold." I answered and shook his hand.

"My name is Matt, I play Fakir." He said with a smile.

Fakir was the character Lila's character Tutu would eventually fall in love with, if I had understood her correctly. I couldn't help but frown at it, but I didn't want to be childish about it. "How come you're not dancing with them right now?" I asked curiously.

"Fakir is an important character because he has many difficult dances, but he doesn't have a lot of them so I get to take more breaks than the rest of them." Matt explained. "So, are you in the ballet world too?"

I shook my head and chuckled. "No way. I don't have any dancing skills whatsoever. Though I guess my grandma did teach me tango when I was a child."

Matt snickered. "Yeah, tango is not gonna help you in this world, buddy." He said in a joking manner. "But do you like it?"

"Well… I like watching Lila dance." I admitted.

"Sure because she's your girlfriend. Helga is the one who is considered the better dancer though."

"Yeah, I guess I can see why… Lila told me that Helga's character is considered one of the most difficult roles in the history of ballet. Is that true?"

"One of them, yes, not _the_ most difficult one, but I'm guessing Helga could pull off the others too." Matt said with a smile. "You're right that Lila is fun to watch when she dances. She is perfect in her abilities, but Helga has that special something that you can't really put your finger on."

I looked back at Helga, watching her as she lifted her leg all the way up to her face and I blinked in shock. "Uh… yeah. _Something_ …"

I could hear Matt snicker at my reaction. "Lila also has the perfect body for a ballerina."

"Excuse me?" I said, frowning at the mentioning of my girlfriend's body.

"I mean, Lila is petite. That's the ideal body for a ballerina."

I looked back at the dancers. "What about Helga then? Her body is… not ideal?" I asked, feeling myself blush at the conversation. They were all wearing leotards so it was impossible not to know their body types despite the fact that when Helga was outside the dance studio, she usually wore baggy clothes. Unlike Lila who was petite like Matt had called it, Helga was more curvaceous. She had an athletic body no doubt, but she had more meat on her bones.

"Absolutely not!" Matt said with a loud laugh, but coughed to keep it down. He then grinned at me. "In all fairness, Helga should be thrown off balance whenever she dances."

"What do you mean?"

"Ballet is a lot about balance to keep the perfect posture. To someone like Lila who is perfectly proportioned, it's easy to stand up straight and so on. To Helga who is a little more, let's say, physically developed, it's much harder." Matt explained. I looked back at Helga and felt myself flush again. "That's never stopped Helga though. She makes do with what she's got… and let's be honest, what she's got is terrific."

I chuckled in embarrassment. "Maybe so, but I still prefer Lila." I said with a fond smile in the redhead's direction.

"Also body-wise?" Matt teased.

"I don't care about that!" I swore. "Helga's personality is not my cup of tea."

"You do realize Helga has more than one personality, right?" Matt asked and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Helga is what you'd call bipolar without having the actual illness. It doesn't matter for how many years you've known her, she will _never_ do what you expect her to."

"That must be frustrating." I insisted. That's why I preferred Lila, I knew what she liked and disliked. I knew I could count on her.

Matt chuckled. "You're looking at it the wrong way." He said and looked at Helga warmly. "Helga makes life interesting. You can never be bored around her. I've known her since we were 3-years-old and had just started doing ballet on the same team. She can still surprise me to this day."

My eyes widened and I looked back at Helga curiously. How could someone be so unpredictable? It was true that she had surprised me every time I had met her so far. Her words about breaking up with Lila the first time, the fact that she was a dedicated ballerina the second time and that she was willing to help me with my poetry assignment the third time. Was she going to shock me again today? It made me nervous to think about.

I was completely lost in thought when I heard clapping around me and joined out of reflex. I looked up and saw that Lila was headed towards me, but Mademoiselle Pavlova called for her and she looked at me apologetically before jogging towards her teacher. My eyes went towards Helga who looked at Lila for a moment before approaching me and Matt. She sat down in front of us with both of her legs bent. One was lying on the floor though and the other was used as an armrest. It was a very unladylike position and that definitely didn't surprise me much. How could someone so good at ballet be so unsophisticated in anything else?

"So, how did it go, Football Head?" Helga asked me.

"Uh… the teacher praised me for the poem." I said with a small chuckle. "He actually said that mine was properly the best one in class."

Then the shock came: Helga smiled broadly. "Way to go, head boy!" she said and patted my shoulder harshly. It was almost like when Harold did it. How strong was this girl anyway? She kept smiling as I massaged my shoulder. I couldn't help but crack a smile at her.

"You actually helped him write a poem?" Matt asked in surprise. "What do you know about poetry?"

"You don't know?" I asked in surprise and Matt looked at me. "Apparently, she's won a few competitions."

"You what?!" Matt asked in Helga's direction. She just lied down on the floor though, using her arms as a pillow behind her head. Her head was right in the middle between me and Matt and for some reason, looking down at her like that made me nervous. "Why didn't I know that?"

"I never mentioned it, I guess." Helga said with a shrug.

"Unbelievable…" Matt muttered and hovered over Helga. "Since when did you start writing poetry?"

"I don't know. When I was 10-years-old, I guess."

" _10_?! I've known you for 13 years, would it have killed you to tell me something like that?" Matt asked, but didn't seem to expect an answer. He sat back down and looked at me. "This is what I meant when I said that Helga can always surprise you."

"You were talking about me?" Helga asked and sat up on her elbows. "Why?"

"Yeah, I was just asking Arnold if he cared for ballet at all, but I guess love makes blind." Matt snickered. "He actually thought Lila was better than you."

"Well, Lila _is_ more fitted for ballet than I am." Helga said matter-of-factly.

While I looked at her in surprise, Matt sighed. "Not this again."

"Why would you say that?" I asked though a part of me agreed. There was just something about Helga doing ballet that didn't fly with me, but I couldn't really but my finger on it.

"I'm not here because I want to be, Football Head." Helga answered and leaned back down on the floor.

"Then… why are you here?" I asked. I wasn't sure what to call it, but despite my former feeling of agreeing with Helga that Lila was more suited for ballet than she was, there was still something inside of me that got annoyed with Helga right now. She was so good at ballet, how could she possibly not want to be here?

"To keep my parents off my back."

That explanation made no sense to me. How did Helga taking ballet lessons satisfy her family? What kind of twisted home did she live in where she had to do something she didn't particularly care for? And why was she willing to do it to begin with?

"Why are you taking ballet… if you hate it?" I asked gently.

"I don't _hate_ it." Helga insisted, but I noticed the corner of her lips go up as if she wasn't being completely sincere.

"Be honest," Matt said and scowled at her. "if your parents told you they didn't care whether you're doing ballet or not - - "

Helga sat up straight and scowled right back at Matt. "I'd quit in a heartbeat." She said in a low voice. I stared at them in silence. I could practically see the lightning between their eyes when Matt suddenly looked away and at Mademoiselle Pavlova instead. She had just called for him, telling him that he and Lila were to practice one of their par de deux now. Matt didn't even look at Helga as he got up from the floor.

I looked at Helga curiously and she noticed my stare. "Matt doesn't like the thought of me quitting ballet." She explained with a sigh and leaned against the wall next to me. "I don't think he's doing ballet because he particularly likes it either."

I gazed at Helga for a moment and then back at Matt who was currently dancing with Lila. Something told me that there was more to the story between Helga, her family and Matt. They had known each other since they were 3-years-old, surely Matt knew about her family situation. If she truly hated it, why was he so against her quitting ballet? I thought that seemed somehow selfish, but I could understand him on an artistic level, I suppose. It was a waste of talent when someone like Helga didn't even like what she was doing. I looked back at the blonde girl, wondering once again why someone I cared so little for was so fascinating to me.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: Ok, I firstly want to address the thing about Arnold's parents. He called it "impossible" for a 9-year-old to find his parents so far away which I know is an unpopular statement. It's not my true opinion as such, it's more like that's how it would be in reality. This is based on a cartoon naturally, but I still felt like I needed a more realistic view on Arnold's parents in this story. So to make it clear: we do** _ **not**_ **know what has happened to Miles and Stella in this story.**


	3. Vanilla

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Boring"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **I went to the library with the boys to study for a poetry assignment we had and ran into Helga again. Eugene was really excited to meet her and suggested that she helped me with my poem. In the process, I told her a bit about my parents, but I never got into details and she never asked for them which I appreciated.**_

 _ **When I went to pick Lila up from ballet again, I met Matt who told me that Helga was a girl with many sides to her, which I was slowly starting to figure out myself. Helga told me that she would quit ballet in a heartbeat if it wasn't because of her parents, but I never found out why that was.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: I don't know what to say! Happy reading :P**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 3: "Vanilla"

"Lila, do you know anything about Helga's family?" I asked, breaking the silence.

Lila's head whipped up from her plate and she stared at me. "Helga's family? Why ever do you ask?" she questioned curiously.

I knew it wasn't a question I should ask on a date with my girlfriend, but it had bothered me since the last time I picked Lila up from her ballet lesson. It had been a while since then and I hadn't had the chance to see Helga and try to ask her about it. She had admitted that the ballet lessons were a way to satisfy her family, but I didn't understand what that meant. I hoped Lila may know.

"Helga mentioned that she was only doing ballet because her family wants her to… I guess I was just wondering if you knew about it." I admitted and ate the potato on my fork.

"Oh, that…" Lila said with a somehow sad smile. "Well," she started and quickly dabbed her napkin on her mouth before putting her silverware down. "Helga has never told me about it as such, but I have seen her family at other recitals… They seem very proud of her while she… she doesn't seem to enjoy the attention very much."

"How come?"

"Oh, if only I knew…" Lila said. "She seems so… unhappy whenever they're around. I want to ask her about it, but we aren't exactly friends and I'm afraid that I will hurt her, just ever so much. I'm scared that she will push me away completely if I try to offer my help or just a listening ear."

I couldn't help but smile at the sympathetic way Lila was speaking of Helga. I put my hand over hers on the table. "That's what I like about you, Lila. You are so kind to everyone, even someone like Helga."

"Whatever do you mean by someone like Helga?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"Well… Helga isn't exactly the kindest of people, is she?" I asked. I felt kind of bad about my own words, but I couldn't forget that this was the girl who had told me very rudely to break up with my girlfriend. First impressions were hard to forget.

"Oh, I'm ever so certain that Helga is a truly good person on the inside, Arnold." Lila said with a sweet smile. "I have a funny feeling that she is just an oh-so private kind of person. She has helped me with ballet moves I've always found ever so difficult. How could I possibly think she wasn't kind when she has done that for me?"

The guilt consumed me and I pulled my hand back. "Sorry, Lila. I didn't mean to speak badly of your friend."

"That's quite alright, Arnold. I know you didn't mean to. I agree that Helga can seem ever so difficult to handle, but I'm sure that she has her reasons." Lila said and went back to her dinner.

I agreed with Lila on that. Helga was difficult to handle and the fact that Matt, her childhood friend and fellow dancer, could still get not just angry with her, but surprised by anything she said or did proved that. He hadn't even known that she was an expert in poetry until I told him. It also seemed like he wanted her to keep doing ballet while Helga had ulterior motives. I still didn't understand how doing ballet could pacify her family, but if Matt knew about it, how come he didn't want her to quit? Wasn't it more important that she was happy than if her talent was wasted? I decided not to think too much about it; it wasn't like I could reach a conclusion on my own anyway.

* * *

"Thank you for a lovely dinner, Arnold." Lila said as we walked down the street together hand-in-hand. It was dark and no one else was in sight so I had dared to take her hand and she had let me. Her hand felt so small in mine and I feared that I was hurting her by tangling my fingers with hers, but she hadn't complained once.

"You're welcome, Lila. I had a lot of fun." I said as we reached the stoop to her house.

When I had first gotten to know Lila in 4th grade, she had lived in a shabby apartment and lived off canned beans. Her father had no job, but luckily he found one soon and they moved into this house not too long after. The reason they came to Hillwood in the first place was that Lila's mother had passed away and she and her father couldn't take care of the farm on their own. It was hard to imagine that this perky, sweet girl had a pretty rough childhood. I felt like I could connect with her in that sense.

I looked at Lila's smiling face as she looked at me and I could feel my heart pick up its pace. It was beating in a steady rhythm as I wondered if I could kiss her. We were out in public, but no one was around and it was the end of a date. It wouldn't be horrible if I tried to kiss her, right? Before I could lean forward though, Lila seemed to realize what I wanted. She looked away in discomfort, but then seemed to make up her mind and kissed my cheek. The kiss was short-lived, but sweet and she was smiling at me when she leaned back.

"Goodnight, Arnold." Lila said hurriedly, ran up the stairs and let herself into the house. I couldn't help the broad smile that spread on my face.

"Whoa, I get more tongue from Green Meats."

I shrieked in surprise at the voice and looked to my right. "Helga?!" I bellowed in shock when I saw the blonde girl in front of me. She was smirking at me while quirking an eyebrow. Her hands were hidden inside the pockets from her black coat and her style seemed to have changed once more. She was wearing heels this time though they were wedges and not stilettoes and I could see a dress pocking out from under her coat. Her hair was loose and was waving down her arms, but her head was still adorned with that pink bow of hers. I sighed. "What are you doing here?" I asked in annoyance.

"Right now, I'm trying not to hurl." Helga joked and started walking towards me.

I frowned. "Could you maybe have made your presence known? Coughed or something?"

"I wanted to puke, but I was afraid I'd break the mood."

My frown got deeper. "What is your deal with Lila?"

"Nothing in particular honestly. I'm just not afraid to admit that she's a prude."

"She's not a prude!"

"Oh, please! She wouldn't even kiss you goodnight and based on your clothes, you went out to dinner, didn't you? Would it have killed her to give you a proper kiss instead of that auntie thing? Oh, well. I guess you at least got a proper kiss from her when you first started dating, right? I mean, that would be the perfect moment." Helga decided. I gazed at her for a bit and I knew that she was figuring out what I was thinking. She started laughing loudly. "You're kidding! You've never really kissed her, have you?!"

"Shut up!" I said harshly and that surprised Helga enough to make her go quiet. "I prefer a girl like Lila who wants to save her first kiss than some girl who walks around kissing whoever."

"Is there no gray area with you?" Helga asked and crossed her arms. "How about a girl who doesn't kiss whoever, but who also doesn't make her boyfriend wait an entire month for a real kiss?"

"Sure, I'd… I'd like to kiss Lila, but I'd rather wait for my first kiss than to just force it on her."

"First kiss? You mean with her, right?" Helga asked me and that made me go quiet. She observed me for a moment before she smirked. "You've… never been kissed before, have you?"

I hated admitting it, but I nodded. There was no point in lying after all. "But Lila is worth waiting for." I said resolutely. Helga seemed to be observing me again in her blue eyes. There was something on her face I couldn't quite describe. It wasn't sympathy, but I didn't know what else to call it. Then she smirked as she shook her head.

"You poor bastard."

I flinched at Helga's choice of word. I had never been called that before and even though it hadn't been said in seriousness, it still made me angry. She walked past me and I turned to look at her, realizing I had to go the same way. I considered waiting around though so I didn't have to walk with her, but then I remembered about her parents. I ran up to her, hoping she wouldn't think it was too weird that I still wanted to talk to her after what she had said.

"If you want to ask me what I was doing out here then calm down, I wasn't stalking you two or anything. I'm going out with Matt." Helga said before I could say anything.

"What? No, I wasn't gonna ask - - Wait, you're going out with Matt?" I asked in surprise. "Are you two dating?"

"What? No. What made you think that?" Helga asked and looked at me. She didn't seem to be disgusted or angry with the idea so I wasn't sure if I believed her.

"Well, it's Saturday night and you're wearing a dress so…" I mumbled.

Helga blinked. "Oh, right. I totally forgot that wearing a dress on a Saturday is a sigh that means you're going on a date." She said in a slanted fashion.

I sighed. "I just haven't seen you in a dress before so I thought - - "

"You've only ever seen me in school or at Les Cygnes Gracieux." Helga pointed out and looked ahead of us again. "I wear dresses when I go out."

 _That's another new thing_ , I thought curiously. "I just hadn't taken you for the dress-wearing kind of girl."

"I'm not usually. I was as a child though."

"Yeah?"

Helga smirked. "Oh, yeah. I wore dresses 24/7."

I couldn't help but snicker. "That's kind of hard to imagine. Why did you stop? Wearing them all the time, I mean."

"I guess I just grew up." Helga answered and looked at me. "Are you wearing the exact same kind of clothes you did as a child?"

"Well, no, but I'd say that my overall style hasn't changed much." I admitted. "As a child I usually wore a pair of jeans, a plaid shirt of some sort and a sweater over it. Since my shirts were too big, they would poke out under my sweater and some people thought I was wearing a kilt or a skirt."

Helga snickered before she gave a hearty laugh. "A kilt! Criminy, I would have loved to see that!" she said and took a deep breath to calm down her laughter. "But I guess that you're right; your style hasn't changed much. I've only ever seen you in jeans and shirts. You do have a thing for plaid, huh?"

"I guess I do."

Helga hummed. "Is that part of the reason why you like Lila? Because she wears plaid dresses sometimes?"

"I like her for so many other reasons." I answered crossly.

"Sheesh, I didn't ask if you if that was the only reason you liked her." Helga said, frowning right back at me.

"Sorry…" I said earnestly. "It's just, I've been told that I was kind of shallow when I was a child so I guess I'm just careful now when it comes to that."

"Shallow? Somehow that surprises me."

I smiled at that. "I would kinda get crushes on girls just because they were pretty." I confessed.

"Oh, whoa. That _is_ shallow." Helga agreed in a laugh. "What kinda girls did you fall for?"

"Oh…" I said and hummed thoughtfully. "I guess I've always had a thing for redheads and…"

"And what?" Helga probed when I stopped talking. I didn't want to continue my sentence though. As I went through my former crushes in my head, I realized that besides redheads, blondes seemed to appear a lot. More blondes than redheads actually, but I couldn't really say that to the blonde Helga.. She nudged me and I looked at her. "Redheads and what?"

"Oh, uh, r-redheads and sweet girls, you know, like Lila." I said awkwardly and looked ahead of me. Something told me that Helga didn't really believe me though I hadn't lied completely.

"But falling for a sweet girl isn't shallow."

"Well, I guess what I mean is… you know, pretty girls. Typically pretty."

"So Mary Sunshine girls?" Helga asked, but I looked at her in confusion. "Oh, boy. At least know the name of your own type of girl! Mary Sunshine girls are girls with perfect behavior, who are old-fashioned, airheaded and pretty."

"I guess… that describes it ok."

"It describes it perfectly since Lila is a big Mary fucking Sunshine."

I frowned at Helga's curse and sighed. "Lila's not a Mary Sunshine. She is so much more."

"Oh, yeah? Mention a trait in her that isn't typically Mary Sunshine."

"Well, there's…" I started and tried to think of something. I kept opening my mouth to talk, but I ended up closing it over and over again. I finally just looked at Helga who was smirking knowingly at me. "Who says being a Mary Sunshine is bad?"

"Every modern and independent person in the entire world."

"Well, call me old-fashioned then."

"She would make the perfect Stepford housewife."

"Stepford?" I repeated.

"Oh, you gotta watch that movie. It's called _The Stepford wives_ , maybe it'll give you some perspective." Helga said condescendingly before she looked ahead of us and smiled. She lifted her hand into a small wave and I looked in the same direction. I hadn't realized how far we had been walking and we had already reached the movie theater called _Avon_. "Hey, Matt!"

"Hi, Helga!" Matt said as we approached him. He then looked at me. "Hi, Arnold. What are you doing here?"

"I ran into him. He was taking Lila home." Helga explained on my behalf.

Matt gestured to me. "You see? It's not that weird for a guy to follow a girl home."

"I swear to the God I don't believe exist, that if you pull that gentleman shit with me, I'll rip out your tongue and wrap it around your neck." Helga said as she waved her finger around.

"What's so wrong with walking a girl home?" I asked in offense.

"Nothing, except when she can beat the snot out of you, which would make your reason to follow her home stupid." Helga answered.

"Why can't a guy just do it out of kindness?" I asked and crossed my arms. "And I'm stronger than I look."

"And I'm stronger than _I_ look." Helga countered.

"And she already looks pretty strong." Matt interfered and leaned closer to me. "Seriously, you don't wanna mess with Helga."

"I'm not gonna fight her!" I said in disbelief and shook my head. "Have a nice evening." I finished dismissively, turned my back and started walking away. After a few steps though, I stopped again. I wasn't sure why, but I turned around and called Helga's name. She and Matt looked at me. "Just so you know, I'm a black belt in karate!"

A look of complete surprise painted Helga's face and I smirked gleefully. Then she smiled back in awe. "Impressive." She said without a hint of teasing in her voice. It caught me so much by surprise that I stayed where I was even when they had walked into the theater. I was wondering why I had felt the need to say that in the first place. It wasn't like I had wanted to impress her or anything. What did I care if she knew that or not? Sighing, I gave up on figuring out why and went home.

* * *

For once, I wasn't early on picking up Lila so when I got there, there was about 5 minutes more of the lesson. I had expected to see them dance their hearts out, but Mademoiselle Pavlova seemed to be scolding Helga a little further away while the other ballerinas practiced on their own. I heard Matt's voice call my name and I approached him, Justin and Lila. I asked them what was going on.

"Oh, just another of Helga's attempts at getting Mademoiselle Pavlova to kick her off the team." Justin answered indifferently.

"What?" I said in surprise and looked in Helga and Pavlova's direction. "What did she do?"

"Get a helix piercing." Matt responded as he was biting on his lower lip.

"A what?" I questioned in confusion. Matt lifted his hand up to his ear and grabbed ahold of the part made of cartilage. "Ouch!" was my first reaction. "Doesn't that hurt?"

"Maybe, but Helga has a strong pain threshold." Justin explained. "I guess by getting a piercing she figured Mademoiselle Pavlova would get angry with her. It worked."

"How come?"

"In the ballet world, piercings and tattoos are a complete no-no, but not even Helga is crazy enough to get a tattoo just to be rebellious." Matt insisted. "She's actually wanted a helix piercing for a while, but if she really cared about staying on the team, she would have waited until we were done with the recitals."

I looked towards Pavlova and Helga who were fighting to their hearts' contents. I couldn't believe it; was Helga really that desperate to get out of this recital that she was willing to get herself pierced for it? Then again, Matt said she wanted one to begin with so maybe she wasn't completely insane or anything. Mademoiselle Pavlova finally seemed to be done with Helga since the blonde girl suddenly turned her back to her. With a few quick steps, she went to her bag, swung it over her shoulder and then jogged out of the room.

"Arnold," Lila said with a pleading voice and put her hand on my shoulder. "I know you don't like Helga very much, but could we please go after her? I'm ever so worried about her and I want to know if she is ok."

I nodded at Lila's request and we followed Helga together. We found her out on the streets, walking at a high speed. She hadn't even bothered to change out of her leotards. Neither had Lila of course, but she had grabbed her coat and tied it around her waist. I almost felt awkward seeing Helga out in public in something like that. I was just glad that Lila wasn't following her example.

"Helga!" Lila called and ran up next to the blonde who wasn't even looking at her. "Are you alright?"

"Just fine, princess." She hissed. "Stubborn bitch."

"Hey!" I said angrily. "Lila's just worried about you!"

"Not Lila, you idiot!" Helga snarled at me. "Pavlova! I can't believe that not even a fucking piecing can get that woman to kick me out! Do I have to get my whole body pierced and tattooed before she gives up on me?"

"Please don't." Lila begged.

"I'm not gonna." Helga sighed. "I'm not _that_ desperate."

Lila looked unbelievably sad as she was watching Helga. "Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked kindly.

Helga opened her mouth and she seemed about to get angry, but then she sighed. She gave Lila a tense smile and patted her head. "I can't think of anything, Miss Perfect." She told her and let her hand fall from Lila's red hair. "But thanks."

Lila looked down at the ground as we kept walking. I could see a hint of pink on her cheeks and I had to hold back a snicker. I was just as shocked as she was; I never thought I would have seen Helga pat someone's head. Somehow, it seemed extremely out of character. Maybe she didn't really hate Lila like I had first thought. She probably didn't like her very much, but at least she didn't hate her.

The sound of someone yelling caught my ears and I looked up. Across the street I could see some big, burly guy who was standing across someone much smaller than him. My eyes widened when I recognized the smaller guy.

"Isn't that your friend?" Helga asked in my direction.

"Eugene." I answered and stepped closer to the road to see Eugene and the guy better. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I had a really bad feeling about this. The big guy was laughing at Eugene who seemed to be looking for a way to escape.

"I'm gonna beat the snot outta ya', ya' little faggot!" the big guy shouted before he swung his fist at Eugene. He barely managed to avoid the fist, but he wouldn't be able to keep dodging him.

"Oh, dear…" Lila said and put her hand on Helga's shoulder in fear.

Helga didn't seem to notice Lila's hand as she turned to look at me. "Why would anyone want to beat up Eugene?" she asked. I opened my mouth to answer, but realized that I would be outing Eugene if I did and I wasn't sure if he wanted that. That was the only reason I could think of though, but I had no idea how this guy found out Eugene was gay. Or maybe he hadn't and he just wanted to beat up Eugene for the hell of it. I had just decided that I needed to do something when Helga gave her bag to Lila who took it in her embrace. "Guess it doesn't matter."

Helga walked across the street, ignoring the honks of the cars around her. "Helga!" Lila shouted in fear and looked at me. "What is she going to do?"

"I-I don't know." I answered. I was in a complete state of shock as I watched Helga approach Eugene who just noticed her.

"Hey, what the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Helga shouted just when the big guy had grabbed Eugene by his collar. She took the guy by his hair and yanked him away from Eugene who landed on the ground with a loud thud. Helga pushed the guy away and stood in front of Eugene who started cowering behind her.

"You fuckin' cunt! Whaddaya think yer doin'?!" the big guy said as he stood up from the asphalt again. He charged towards Helga, fully intending to tackle her, but she grabbed Eugene by his arm and ran to the side just in time for the guy to hit a car instead. He groaned in pain, shook his head and looked back at Helga and Eugene.

"Get out of here." She told Eugene who was about to decline. "You're just gonna be in the way!" she shouted and he finally ran across the street towards me and Lila.

"Eugene, are you ok?" Lila asked in fear and accepted his hug.

"I'm fine! But Helga…" Eugene said and looked towards the blonde girl who kept nimbly dodging the guy. "Arnold, you have to help her!"

Eugene didn't have to tell me in the first place, I was already running across the street. Helga noticed me instantly and made sure the guy's eyes were on her as I jumped onto his back. He started roaring like a gorilla and tried to throw me off him, but I stayed on his back. Suddenly, he grabbed me by my shoulders and threw me over his head. With a shout, I hit Helga who caught me in her arms.

"Why did you interfere?!" Helga shouted in my ear.

"I couldn't just leave you here!" I answered and looked at the guy who was charging towards us. Helga pushed me away and crawled away herself just in time for the guy to hit a lamppost instead.

Helga ran towards me and helped me stand up. "Ok, Football Head," she said to me and looked towards the big guy again as he got up. "It's time to prove that you actually do have a black belt in karate."

* * *

"Helga!" Eugene bellowed and ran towards her as soon as she came out of the door. "Are you ok? You're not hurt too bad, right?"

"I'm not hurt at all, squirt." Helga told him. "The doctor just wanted to make sure since Arnold was pretty good at hiding his sprained ankle."

"It's not sprained, it's just… a little sore." I insisted, mostly because Eugene had been on the verge of tears ever since the police had arrived and had stopped the fight between myself, Helga and the guy. He and Lila had called the police so the fight hadn't lasted long. While Helga and I insisted we didn't need an ambulance, the big guy actually did need one. Not because we had beaten him up, but because he continuously hit other things while trying to punch us. I had personally fallen at one point and had sprained my ankle just a little bit. It wasn't even enough to get a cast on it, but I was told to rest for a few days. I wasn't planning to stay home though, I would just not walk around too much. "And you're totally fine, Helga?"

"Not a scratch, but that's not what I want to talk about right now." Helga answered and crossed her arms as she looked at Eugene. "How did you get yourself in that mess?"

That was when I saw something I hadn't seen before; Eugene breaking down crying. I had seen him get hurt in accidents too many times to count, but I had never seen him cry or even get remotely sad. He was such a positive person so to see him break down in front of Helga, of all people, shocked me. As he sobbed, he told Helga about his sexuality and that he had been on a date just before that big guy had decided to voice his opinions about two guys dating. His date had left him behind and Eugene had tried to calm the guy down, but it hadn't worked.

"I-I'm so s-sorry!" Eugene cried and put his hands up to his eyes. "I didn't mean to get you and Arnold into this and now look what's happened. Arnold's hurt a-and - - "

"We're fine." Helga interrupted.

"Still!" Eugene insisted in a big sob. He was completely devastated and despite being his friend, I had no idea what to say or do to make him feel better. Then Helga did something I would never forget; she put her hand on Eugene's head and rested her chin on it. He was a head shorter than her so it seemed like a perfect fit. I could hear Eugene's sobbing stop as she patted his head soothingly. Then he pulled her close to him and started crying again though the sound was muffled by her chest. The image of Helga caressing Eugene's head awkwardly in her attempt at comforting him was so completely heartwarming that a warm smile spread on my face.

I looked at Lila who was smiling the same way I was as she took my hand in hers and tangled her fingers with mine. "My heroes." She muttered in a giggle. I chuckled in embarrassment and looked up at Helga who was sticking her tongue out at Lila, probably due to her comment. But she smiled right after and kept comforting Eugene awkwardly.

Then Helga's face lit up as if she had an idea. "Actually… I think I know the perfect guy for you." She said and pulled away from Eugene to smile at him.

"Huh?" Eugene mumbled and sniffed. "I can't think about dating now."

"Oh, trust me. You'll want to meet this guy." Helga insisted. "Not only are you his type, but if you're linked publically with him, you'll never be bullied again."

"Who is it?" Eugene asked. Helga leaned forward and whispered a name in his ear that caused him to stumble backwards. "You know him?!"

"Childhood friends, actually." Helga said and grabbed Eugene's phone from his pocket. "Text him and tell him that I'm the one who told you to. He trusts my gut with these things."

"You-You really think he'd be interested in _me_?" Eugene asked shyly.

"Oh, yes." Helga said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and gave Eugene his phone back. "He's gonna love you."

Eugene blushed at Helga's words and smiled brightly at her. "Th-Thank you so much… for doing all this for me." he sobbed. Helga was smirking at him as she told him that it was no big deal, but it was a big deal to Eugene. And to me too. I had never thought Helga would not just risk her neck for someone, but even help them move on. Whoever this guy was it was clearly someone Eugene was interested in. And if dating this guy was going to help him get out of the bully zone then all the better.

After that Lila's dad and Eugene's parents came to pick them up. They offered both Helga and me a ride, but I declined, telling them that my grandparents were already coming to pick me up. Helga declined as well, saying she wanted to stay behind and wait with me. Needless to say, I had been a little shocked when she had offered that.

Helga and I sat down on a bench and she groaned. "Never again…" she muttered. I smiled at her sympathetically. She was clearly uncomfortable with the attention. She had been on edge since the police arrived and we had to explain them what had happened and why we had attacked that guy. After getting the explanation and a statement from several witnesses, the police praised us for our effort, but Helga clearly just wanted to go home even when she was forced to go to the hospital.

"Who was the guy you set Eugene up with?" I asked as I unscrewed the lid from my bottle of water.

"Oh, he's from our school actually."

"Yeah? Who is it?" I asked and started drinking from the bottle.

"Lorenzo Cohn-Lopez."

I spit my water out on the floor. I looked apologetically at a nurse who instantly went to clean it up. "Lorenzo Cohn-Lopez? As in the rich kid?" I asked Helga who nodded. "How do you know him?"

"A kid like Lorenzo goes to watch ballet with his mother, you nimrod. He gave me a bouquet of flowers once after a recital back when we were like 13-years-old and we've been a kind of friends ever since. I helped him come out for example."

"You helped Lorenzo Cohn-Lopez come out?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Helga said and moved her leg to rest on her thigh. "he confessed his sexuality to me a couple of years ago and I basically told him to either come out or that _I'd_ out him. Needless to say, his coming out was easier than he had expected. But it's probably got something to do with who his family is. Which is also why that if he starts hanging out with Eugene, there's not a person in town who would lay a finger on the squirt."

I stared at Helga in awe. "That's amazing."

"Yeah, well, I'm a pretty amazing person, Football Head."

"I'm sorry." I said and she looked at me in complete shock. "When we first met I… I really didn't like you because of what you said about Lila. And I judged you because of that, but since then I've gotten to know you and… and I'm sorry."

"Hey, I'm not less bitchy than when we first met."

I chuckled. "Maybe not, but there's much more to you than I thought." I said and smiled at her. "I'm actually… kind glad that I met you, Helga. You're not like anyone I have ever met before."

Helga stared at me for a long time before she broke down laughing. "That's the first time anyone's _ever_ said that to me!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! Most people regret the day they were born when they meet me."

"That's because you tell people to break up with their girlfriends!" I said and laughed.

"Hell no, that's just you and I stand by it. I've told other people worse things so count your blessings." Helga said and forced her laughter down. I slowly stopped as well, but gave a short chuckle which she reciprocated. "Man, what a day… You sure scored some points with Lila though."

"I think you scored more point with her than I did." I said in a snicker.

"Oh, please! Did you see the way she was looking at you?" Helga asked and then grabbed my hand. I stared at our tangled fingers in shock while Helga bashed her eyelashes sarcastically. " _My hero_." She cooed in a feminine voice. I knew she was making fun of Lila right then, but my attention was on our hands. Unlike with Lila whose hands were so small, the spaces between Helga's fingers seemed to have been made for mine. We were a perfect fit.

I heard Helga say something and I looked up at her. "Y-Yeah?" I said even though I hadn't heard what she was saying. I kept looking into those big, blue eyes and I noticed my heart starting to beat faster than it usually did. It actually hurt a bit. The way Helga was looking at me made me nervous and I made a silent gasp when she started leaning closer to me. I froze on the spot when her lips touched mine and the scent of vanilla hit my sense of smell. I kept staring at the closed eyelids in front of me while I felt her fingers tighten around mine. I was about to close my eyes when I heard my name being called and reality pulled me back.

I pushed myself away from Helga and our fingers untangled. My hand felt strangely empty as I stared at Helga who had little to no emotion on her face. My heart was still beating like crazy when I heard my name being called again and I turned to see my grandparents running down the hallway. I looked at them for a bit before I turned my head to see that Helga had stood up and was walking in the opposite direction. While my grandparents were hugging me and asking me if I was ok, all I could think about was this vanilla scent that still lingered on my lips.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: Ok, so a reviewer told me that she liked that I usually use so many different characters from HA! But I have a clear lack of Lorenzo in my stories, which is true since I've never used him even once xD I figured that this person was probably right so I decided to shove him into this story. He probably still won't be a big part of the story, but he will be mentioned again later. Oh, and since Lorenzo doesn't have an actual last name in the show, I gave him the same last name as his voice actor. I thought it sounded pretty good actually xD**


	4. Dancing

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Boring"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **After a date with Lila, I ran into Helga who mocked me again for dating someone like Lila. She was shocked to find out that we had never really kissed before. At first, I thought maybe she had been following us, but it turned out that she was meeting with Matt from Les Cygnes Gracieux. She said they weren't dating though.**_

 _ **When I came to pick Lila up from her ballet lesson, they told me that Helga had showed up with a Helix piercing which wasn't allowed in the ballet world. Pavlova didn't want to let her go though so Helga was pretty angry when we left. We stumbled into Eugene on the way who was getting picked on by a homophobe and Helga and I ran to his rescue. Luckily, I only hurt my ankle a little bit and Helga wasn't hurt at all.**_

 _ **Helga talked to Eugene who confessed his sexuality to her and she said that she wanted to pair him up with one of her friends, Lorenzo Cohn-Lopez who is a well-known millionaire and homosexual in our school. When I thanked Helga for going out of her way to help Eugene though, she kissed me.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: I don't know what to say! Yadda-yadda, enjoy reading! xD**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 4: "Dancing"

I was pretty sure that I hadn't opened my eyes and yet the darkness around me turned into light. I looked around, but I couldn't see anything. I heard a familiar, warm voice call my name and I turned towards it. I saw Lila come running towards me and I held her in my arms. Her eyes were full of love as she leaned closer to me and kissed me. Everything in that moment was completely wonderful, but when she leaned back, I wasn't met with her hazel eyes. A pair of blue ones looked at me instead and I recognized Helga's smirk. I tried to pull away, but she grabbed me by my neck and pulled me into another kiss.

I woke up with a scream and sat up. I breathed heavily, willing my heart to go down as I looked around. I was in my room and when I looked at the clock, I confirmed that I had been asleep and that it was a dream. I sighed in relief, but then my memories from the day before came crashing down on me and I realized that it hadn't been a dream. I put my hand up to my mouth and tried to wipe away the guilt, but it remained on my lips no matter how many times I tried to wash it away.

I put my knees up to my chest and hid my face from the world. What made me feel the most guilty was that I had been so shocked that I hadn't stopped Helga before she kissed me or even pushed her away once her lips touched mine. I had just let her do it and I kept asking myself why. I didn't want her to kiss me, of course I didn't, so why had I been so shocked that I couldn't stop it? Deciding I just couldn't sit by and think about this forever, I grabbed my phone and texted Lila that I wanted to pick her up from ballet again today. I needed to give Helga a piece of my mind.

* * *

It didn't matter how much I tried to focus in school, Helga's kiss kept appearing in my mind and so did the guilt. I had been so much in my own world that when Lila had wished me a good morning, I had immediately apologized. She had asked me if I was ok and I had laughed awkwardly, pretending I just hadn't gotten enough sleep. Gerald hadn't bought it and later, he pulled me aside to ask me what was going on.

Gerald's reaction to Helga kissing me was complete shock. He even seemed more shocked than I was and he was furious on my behalf. After he cooled down, he asked me why I hadn't pushed her away and I admitted that I had been frozen in place. He had looked at me funny then, but when I asked about it, he had insisted that he was just thinking. He agreed with me that I needed to talk to Helga though. He didn't have to tell me twice.

When it was time to pick up Lila from ballet, I was completely pumped to talk with Helga. I had gotten angrier and angrier the more I thought about it during the day. If this was another one of her attempts to get me to break up with Lila then it wasn't working. She had practically stolen my first kiss just when I had started to think that she was a pretty good person. That was completely down the toilet now and I was ready to throw a tantrum as soon as I saw her. When I showed up at Les Cygnes Gracieux though, I couldn't see Helga anywhere.

"If you're looking for Helga then she's playing hooky." Matt told me. I looked at him questioningly. "She does that sometimes."

"She just doesn't show up?" I asked.

Matt shrugged. "Sometimes she just needs some space."

"Where does she usually get her space?"

"Why? You need to talk to her?" Matt asked. Helga clearly hadn't told him about the kiss so I just nodded. He looked me over for a moment, but then sighed. "She goes downtown with some girls. Hand me your phone." He ordered. When I did, he started writing something on it and then showed me an address. "This is where she's gonna be for the next few hours."

"Thanks, Matt." I said and looked at Lila. I sighed and looked back at Matt. "Could you tell Lila that I'm sorry and that something came up?"

"Sure. Say hello to Helga from me." Matt said and waved at me. I quickly ran out of the dance studio and headed for the nearest bus station. I knew exactly which bus to take since Gerald and I had accidentally gone downtown when we were kids. I also knew it was kind of a skeevy area so I wondered what Helga was doing there.

* * *

As I walked the streets, I caught myself being thankful that the sun was still high in the sky. If it was dark, I probably wouldn't have liked to be here. I looked at the address again and up at the name of the street. It was close by. I noticed music in the distance and something told me that was where Helga was. I reached a place called _Ernie's Pool Hall_. I recognized the name, Gerald and I had been in there before. It seemed to have changed a lot though and when I walked inside, it confirmed my intuition.

The bar and the pool tables were still there, but the crowd seemed to have changed. Before, it was men only and there hadn't been a woman in sight. Now it seemed like teenagers as well as adults were here and the place didn't seem as sketchy as I remembered. The music wasn't the funky jazz I had heard as a child, but electro pop. I recognized the voice of Natalia Kills singing about how that girl was a goddamn problem. I didn't recognize the song, but I didn't care in that moment.

I noticed some guys whistling and I looked towards the sound. I could see some girls dancing around to the song, but they weren't just random girls. They could clearly dance and I couldn't help but walk towards them curiously. Once I was in front of the circle of people, I had to shake my head to believe my own eyes. One of the girls was clearly Helga even though she didn't look like any of the Helgas I had met this far.

Helga's hair was hanging wildly from her head and down to her hips, which once again reminded me how long her blonde hair really was. She was wearing a loose, black crop top with what looked like pink graffiti on it saying _What the hell_. Around her hips was a chain that decorated a pair of blue shorts. Fishnet stockings slithered around her long legs and ended in a pair of black wedges with fake square diamonds on the heels. I had to admit that this look suited her.

Helga was dancing with some other girls who resembled her in clothing style, but they looked more punkish than she did. They were singing to the song and I couldn't help but find the lyrics ironic. " _You got no power to control how I make you my toy-toy-toy_." They sang and I did kind of feel like a toy in Helga's hands at this point. She had played me at least.

A guy reached for Helga and tried to start dancing with her. I didn't notice the frown that appeared on my face at the sight. She twirled around him though and stepped onto a chair. I watched in awe as she stepped onto the pool table and continued dancing. I remembered dancing on the very same pool table as a child and I couldn't help but smile at her. She was twisting her body around to the music and everyone in the room was staring at her. I didn't like the perverted look in some guys' eyes, but it wasn't like I could tell them to stop looking at her when I was ogling her myself.

Helga, who looked in my direction, stopped dancing immediately. She stared at me and I gulped nervously. Some drunk men noticed the way we were looking at each other and I wasn't sure why, but two of them lifted me onto the pool table. Helga grabbed me so I wouldn't fall down, but she didn't seem too fond of me being thrown up here with her. I kept staring at her, wondering what she was going to do, as the men hollered at us and wanted Helga to keep dancing.

Helga rolled her eyes and put her arms over me. I was gawking at her when she started dancing again, swaying her hips close to mine without actually touching me. The men hollered, clearly satisfied that Helga was entertaining them again and she seemed to get back in the state of mind she had been in before she had seen me. Her fingers ran through her hair and I couldn't take my eyes away from her as she stepped closer to me.

Helga was so close to me now that I could smell that hint of vanilla again and it was more intoxicating than the stench of beer and cigarettes. She grabbed my hands, which I had only just noticed I had put on her hips and moved them over our heads. People whistled as she turned under our arms and let my arms fall back down. Her own arms went around my neck though and pulled me so close to her that my cheek was touching hers.

I was shivering when I suddenly felt Helga's hips pushing against mine. The action caused me to take a step back and I fell off the pool table. Some men who had been standing behind me caught me, but they laughed loudly at my embarrassing display. When I looked up at Helga and saw her smirk, I realized she had done it on purpose. I pulled out of the men's grasp and stepped towards the pool table again.

"What are you doing?!" I asked angrily.

Helga crouched in front of me, still smirking. "That wasn't my fault. You should watch where you're going." She said arrogantly and then the smirked disappeared. She looked genuinely pissed with me now. "What the fuck are you doing here? I come here to forget my problems and you're one of them!"

"Don't give me that look!" I told her. " _I'm_ the one who is supposed to be angry with you! We need to talk about what you did to me yesterday!"

" _Did_ to you? Don't act like you were raped, you wimp!" Helga told me and jumped off the table. I was about to shout at her, but she put her hand over my mouth. "If this is so fucking important to you then you can wait 'til I'm done here, right?"

Helga didn't wait for my answer and simply went back to the girls who pulled her back into their dancing circle. I stared at her in disbelief for a while before shaking my head and sitting down at the bar. I ordered a Yahoo soda which the bartender quirked an eyebrow at, but he didn't say anything. As I waited, I would occasionally look at Helga who kept dancing to her heart's content.

* * *

"Were you planning to stay there all night?!" I complained as I followed Helga down the streets.

"I hoped you would take a hint, give up and go home!" Helga shouted back at me. "And I was actually planning to do that until you showed, but you kept whining and ruining the mood in there!"

"Why did you skip ballet to go there anyway?" I asked, ignoring the discomfort I felt of being downtown in this darkness.

"That's the place I go when I need to let out some steam." Helga explained as I ran up next to her. "I go there when I _want_ to dance."

"So you do hiphop too?"

"Obviously."

"Why do you hate ballet so much?"

Helga looked at me in surprise. "Are we changing the subject now?"

"Kinda, I've just been meaning to ask for a while." I explained.

"I don't _hate_ ballet, I hate what it means to my family."

"And what does it mean to your family?"

"That there's still hope for me."

"To do what?"

"To become their perfect little daughter number 2." Helga hissed. That silenced me, which I figured had been what she was hoping for. Perfect little daughter? Number 2? Meaning, she had an older sister who was considered perfect? Was she living in her sister's shadow?

"But… I don't understand." I admitted. "How can they expect you to be just like your sister?"

"They don't." Helga answered. "All my life, I've been the troublemaker, the problem child, the black sheep in the family. I've taken ballet my whole life, trying to do just _something_ right in their world, but I'm still not good enough so I'm sick of it and I want to quit. Mademoiselle Pavlova just doesn't want to let me go."

"Because you're good at it!"

"I'm good because I was motivated to be anything else besides a disappointment in my family's eyes. It didn't work so I've given up, but I can't just quit because I want to so I need her to kick me off the team."

"Why don't you just explain to your parents that you don't like it?" I asked.

Helga stopped walking and looked at me. "Parents or not, you grew up with a loving family, didn't you?" she asked which made me frown. I couldn't argue against her though; my grandparents had been wonderful in raising me and I had never felt unloved as a child. Helga probably couldn't say the same. "So you would never understand how I feel."

"Ok, no. I don't understand how you feel." I acknowledged resolutely.

I wanted to say something more, but I didn't know what. Helga didn't seem to expect more from me either so she just turned her back to me and continued walking. I followed her in silence for a long time, wondering what it really was like to live in a family like hers where she couldn't just be who she was. What it was like to have done something every day your whole life to please someone else and yet it still wasn't enough. I couldn't imagine it at all.

"So," Helga said out of the blue and turned around. "why did you follow me here anyway?"

"Huh?" I said, slowly coming out of my web of thoughts. I tried to remember why I had come here and when I finally did, I frowned. "I want to know why you did that."

" _That_?" she questioned in honest confusion. I gave her a bit of a look, hoping she would catch on herself. When she did, her face became slack with disbelief. " _That's_ why you came all the way downtown, falling me like some stalker? Are you kidding me? Do you have nothing better to do?!"

I started growling in anger. "Of course I came here to talk to you about it! You weren't at the dance studio and I can't get it out of my mind!"

"You are in general out of your mind if you care that fucking much."

"How can I not care?! I'm dating Lila and yet you kissed me! Why?! I know Lila isn't your friend, but it doesn't seem to me like she's your enemy either or anything."

"She isn't."

"Then why would you kiss me?" I asked and threw my arms out in frustration. I really didn't get it at all. What would she gain from kissing me? Was she just doing it to screw with my head?

Helga's lips became two thin lines before she turned her back to me and continued walking. "I know it was your first kiss and all, but there's no reason to act like you were molested!" she shouted at me as I started following her again.

I groaned once I had reached Helga again. Her legs were longer than mine so I had to struggle to keep up with her. "I was shocked! I mean, I still am! I can't think of any reason why you of all people would kiss me all of a sudden!"

"No reason?" Helga mumbled, but it didn't seem like I was supposed to hear it so I ignored it. "Look, Football Head, why do you care so much? You think I'm going to blackmail you with it or something? Use it against you to get Lila to dump you? How little do you think of me?"

"No, but how am I supposed to not care about something like that? Does those thing mean nothing to you?"

"Of course they mean something, but that wasn't my first kiss so I'm not gonna bend over crying about it!"

A part of me wanted to ask Helga who else she had kissed, but I threw my curiosity aside. "So, because it wasn't your first kiss, it didn't mean as much?"

"What do I know?"

"That's my line!" I said and stopped walking. I had reached my limit and I was just so angry and frustrated with her that I didn't know what to do. "Can't you just tell me why you kissed me?!"

"I don't know!" Helga screamed and stopped walking. She turned to look at me and her blue eyes were ablaze with anger. "If I knew I would have told you, even if just to get you off my back, but I don't know! It just happened, ok?! I didn't plan it and when I walked away after that, I was in just as much shock as you were so stop bothering me goddammit, because I don't know why I kissed you!"

Helga had been shouting at the top of her lungs so once she stopped talking, she was breathing heavily. She was glaring at me, but the glare died and her face became more vulnerable. She closed her mouth and looked away from me, biting on her lower lip as she did. I just kept staring at her. Helga didn't know why she had kissed me which somehow just made me more confused. Was it really possible that she just been caught up in the heat of the moment and had been as surprised as I was? That she was just as confused as I was?

 _Wait._ I thought. _Confused? Me? Because of Helga?_

Right then the sound of glass breaking caught my ears and I flinched. Helga turned around to see an object flying through a window and land on the street with a loud thud. We looked at the broken window and I approached her, ready to grab her if something was to happen. She didn't seem as shocked as I did though. When we started to hear yelling from inside the house – where the object, I had just discovered was a bottle, had come from - I looked at Helga in shock.

"Do your neighbors always fight like this?"

"Those aren't my neighbors." Helga replied with a sour look on her face.

I removed my hand from her shoulder. "Are those your parents?" I asked as the male voice started shouting again.

"Biologically speaking, yes." Helga replied and started walking towards the house. I couldn't help but follow her, I was kind of worried about her after all so I stepped into the house once she had unlocked the door. "Down!"

At Helga's command, I threw myself to the floor and hid my head as a vase came flying towards us. I looked behind me and saw it crash on the asphalt. "What was that?!"

"A vase." Helga replied casually. "The ugliest one we've got too so good riddance."

I frowned at her, noticing that she was down on the floor with me. "I know that!" I bellowed and looked at the house I was inside of. I didn't have the time to take in my surroundings though before I noticed a large man shouting at a woman inside the living room. Helga started army crawling on the floor and I followed her. I didn't dare standing up before she did.

"Damn it, Miriam! You know that my business clients are coming tonight and yet you can't even cook dinner properly! You're probably drunk too, aren't you?" the man asked the much smaller woman in front of him.

"I am not drunk, B." she insisted, but the way she couldn't stand properly said otherwise.

"Would you relax, Bob!" Helga shouted. "I'll cook dinner before they get here. How much time have I got?"

"A half hour!" Bob shouted in a complete panic.

Helga blinked a couple of times. "Fuck." She declared matter-of-factly.

"Hey, young lady! Where did you learn such language from?!" Bob asked. Helga shot him a look of disbelief before she pointed at him. He rolled his eyes and threw out his arms. "This meeting could make us rich, does no one understand that?!"

"It's not like we're poor now." Helga muttered and crossed her arms. "Ok, what have we got to work with?"

"How am I supposed to know?!"

"It's your fucking business meeting, you should know!"

"I don't buy the groceries!"

"Never mind!" Helga shouted and then sighed. "Just… order something and claim that we made it. They'll never notice if you just put it on the plates before they get here."

"Yeah… Yeah, good idea, Olga." Bob said and ran towards the phone.

"Olga?" I repeated and looked at Helga questioningly.

"It's _Helga_ , Bob." She corrected, but he wasn't listening.

Bob talked to someone on the phone for a moment before he seemed to finally notice my presence. "Who are you?" he asked rudely.

"Oh, uh, m-my name is - - "

"No, wait. I know you." Bob said with a frown. "You're that old coot's grandson, aren't ya? The orphan."

"Bob!" Helga cried in disbelief and looked at me, but I couldn't bring myself to look back. That moment had felt like a bolt of lightning going through my heart. I had heard it before, but never so casually to my face. I felt someone take my hand and pull me away, but it wasn't before Helga's hair tickled my face that I was even aware of it. She pulled me out of the room, up some stairs and then into a room I assumed was hers. "Ignore him."

I looked at Helga in slight surprise and I was even more surprised when I saw how guilty she looked. She was clearly embarrassed on her dad's behalf, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I shrugged, hoping I seemed indifferent even though I felt like something inside of me had just been broken. I walked through the room and sat down on the bed, thinking that if I didn't, I would fall to my knees.

"I'll keep my promise and not ask." I heard Helga say and I looked up at her. "But if you need someone to just listen… or whatever."

She seemed completely out of her comfort zone while she offered her time to me. "I…" I started lowly. "It's not a happy story."

Helga shrugged. "Most stories from the real life isn't." she said and walked towards the bed and sat down next to me.

I sighed gloomily, but I heard myself speak anyhow. "My mom was a botanist and my dad was an anthropologist. They met in San Lorenzo many years ago and fell in love. In San Lorenzo there's a people called The Green Eyed People and they saved my parents' life many times before I was born. My mom and dad moved to Hillwood because they thought San Lorenzo was too dangerous for me, but then…" I said and then hesitated. I looked down at my hand when I felt something touching it and I realized that the tip of Helga's fingers were grazing the back of my hand. I looked away, staying oblivious. "Their friend Eduardo came to Hillwood and told them that an outbreak of the deathly sleeping sickness had spread in San Lorenzo and was slowly killing The Green Eyed People… They decided to go back to find an antidote and… they never came back."

"So… you have no idea what happened to them?" Helga asked gently and I shook my head. "How come… no one ever sent a search party for them?"

"We don't exactly have the money for that." I responded with a patient smile. It was obvious based on Helga's house that she wouldn't know about the feeling of not having money. "I have a map of San Lorenzo at home that my dad drew, but… that's all I have to go by. It's just not enough. Not even _I_ am that positive." I said, trying to keep the mood light, but my voice was failing me.

"Criminy." Helga sighed and let herself fall back on her bed. The small touch from her fingers left me and even though it had been so gentle, I still felt like they were missing. "Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed that…"

"You were thinking about it?" I asked, ignoring the way my heart was beating just from seeing her lying on a bed.

"Of course I was! I never promised that I wouldn't be guessing in my own head now, did I?"

"No, no. I'm not angry." I insisted. "I guess I just didn't think that you cared."

"Who says I do? I was just… curious." Helga insisted, but there was something in her voice that told me that she had been worried about me; even if only a little, and that made me kind of happy. Then her face fell completely. "I'm… still sorry about my dad though."

"Oh, that's ok… I've heard it before." I insisted with a frown. "Not that crudely, but…"

"He can't speak anything but crudely." Helga said and put her arms behind her head.

I wasn't sure what gave me the courage, but I lied down next to her, staring at the ceiling with her. "Has he always been like that?"

"Since I was born at least." Helga answered. "It's not like Olga would ever admit it if he was like that when she lived here too."

"Why not?"

"Because in her world, everything is rosy and perfect as long as mommy and daddy are pretending to be happy, her baby sister pretends to adore her and the only thing she doesn't have to pretend are her A's."

I blinked, slowly processing the information. "Whoa."

"Dullest reaction I've ever seen." Helga declared and held her stomach as she laughed.

"I-I'm sorry!" I said apologetically, but Helga didn't stop laughing. "I-I'm just surprised, I guess. I mean, you hear about people like that, but I never thought I'd meet one."

Helga stopped laughing and contemplated my words. "People like what?"

"Well… people with… dysfunctional families, I guess."

"Speaking of crudely." Helga said with a frown and I was about to apologize again, but she didn't let me. "I'm just yanking your chain. That's the nicest way to describe my family. I'd say we're all fucked up in our own special way… Speaking of which, you probably want to get out of here before those business freaks get here. Bob will have a cow if you make an appearance while they're here."

I got up from the bed instantly, not planning to stick around to check if Helga was right about her dad. I believed her anyway. "You gonna be ok?"

Helga looked at me funny. "What do you mean, are you gonna be ok?"

"I-I don't know. It's just…" I mumbled and looked at her door, imagining her parents standing right behind it. I couldn't get them out of my head. Her dad's crude way to talk to his daughter, the fact that he called her by her big sister's name… Her mom with those tired eyes and whiskey breath, the fact that she couldn't stand straight… It didn't look like a safe environment.

"Hey, don't worry about me, Football Head." Helga said and swung one of her legs over the other and relaxed on her bed. "The more you stamp on a weed, the more it thrives."

 _What does that mean?_ I wondered. "That's… pretty dark." I observed, but Helga just snickered lowly as if what I had just said had been the most oblivious thing she ever heard. I headed towards her door, but then turned to look at her again. "Hey, Helga… you know, how you offered me to talk to you if I needed to get something off my chest about my parents?"

"Hm?" Helga muttered and looked at me.

"Well… same goes for you. You can come to me to talk too…" I said shyly. When I noticed her shocked expression, I waved my hands in self-defense. "I-If you want to that is!"

"Relax, I won't bite you!" Helga said, clearly amused by my reaction. "It's cheaper to talk to you than a shrink, so sure. I'll remember that."

It wasn't a proper yes, but it wasn't exactly a no either so I just smiled at her. I was about to open the door when I remembered something again. "Uh, Helga?"

"Criminy, what now?" Helga asked as she rolled around on her bed. She opened the drawer next to her bed and pulled out a pink notebook. She put it on her pillow, opened it and grabbed a pencil. She clearly intended to start writing as soon as I left.

"Could we… agree not to tell Lila about… what happened at the hospital?" I asked hopefully. My guilt was still eating at me, but I couldn't do anything else than just avoid hurting Lila. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her and I'd rather that I was hurting alone than pulling her with me.

Helga looked at me curiously. "Why the hell would I tell Lila anyway?"

"That's not what I - - "

"Tell me, is it ok to kiss around as long as your girlfriend doesn't find out?" Helga asked with a smirk.

"There was no kissing around! _You_ kissed _me_!" I whispered agitatedly.

"And you didn't pull away."

"I froze!"

"For a full minute?" Helga asked sarcastically. "Admit it; girlfriend or not, you didn't _hate_ me kissing you."

I went quiet at that. Frankly, I had been too surprised to have wondered whether I liked Helga's lips on me or not. I hadn't even thought about it that way. My thoughts had evolved only around Lila and how guilty I felt because of what Helga had done. Helga's suggestion made me think about it though and to my absolute horror, I realized that she was right; I didn't hate it.

"It doesn't matter whether I hated it or not, I have a girlfriend!"

Helga made one loud laugh and sat up on her bed, pointing at me with her pencil. "You're not denying it!"

"I-It doesn't matter!"

"I'd say it does. It proves what I told you when we first met; you're bored with Lila! If you were really as in love with her as you claim, you wouldn't have any room in your heart to even _consider_ another girl."

"Let's make one thing clear." I said as I stepped closer to Helga who was still smirking superiorly at me. "Even if that was true, even if I _was_ bored with Lila, I would never cheat on her and especially not with you!"

"And why not me?" Helga asked, unfazed by my words.

"Because you're infuriating! Because I have no idea what you're thinking half the time! Because you like to bully people! Because - - "

"Because I'm dangerous?" Helga suggested.

I frowned. "Stop twisting my words to your liking." I hissed, but I just turned my back to her and walked back to the door. I could hear her chuckle behind me as I walked out of her room.

I groaned once I was out of what felt like the lioness' den and jogged down the stairs. I could hear Bob make frantic phone calls and I noticed a snoring nearby. I looked inside and sure enough, Helga's mom was lying on the couch, sleeping soundly. My eyebrows furrowed as I left the house that even Helga had indirectly called a substitute for an asylum. I turned around to look at the house, noticing Helga walking around in her window. She was bopping her head to some music, I assumed, and I couldn't help but smile at her. She noticed me and frowned in embarrassment when I waved at her. She stuck her tongue out at me and kept dancing as if she hadn't been embarrassed of me busting her a second ago. I was chuckling all the way home.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: The song Helga is dancing to at Ernie's pool hall is** _ **Problem**_ **by Natalia Kills.**


	5. Helpless

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Boring"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **After Helga had kissed me, I decided it was time to confront her and finally get some answers. She wasn't at her ballet lesson though, but Matt said she usually went to Ernie's pool hall whenever she needed let off some steam. She was there with some girls and for a moment I must have lost my mind because I let her play me again when she danced against me.**_

 _ **Helga admitted that she didn't know why she had kissed me and that it had been in the heat of the moment. Before I could question her again though, we heard her dad yell at her mom. Bob recognized me as Phil's grandson and called me an orphan in front of Helga, which made her pull me to her room and apologize. We bonded for the first time and we got to know each other a little more. On my way home, I had completely forgotten that I was supposed to be angry with her.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: I have nothing to say! Except that most of this was written at my dad's place and he doesn't have word so if there's more mistakes than usual, I do apologize and please tell me about them xD**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 5: "Helpless"

It was a lazy, kinda boring Saturday afternoon. Lila was having some quality time with her dad today and I hadn't been able to get ahold of Gerald so I was lazing around in my room. From time to time, my conversation with Helga would pop into my head. It wasn't like my family was perfect, not at all. They could be loud, obnoxious and the boarders fought a lot and some of them weren't willing to pay rent when it was due. I'd had my fair share of fights with them and even my grandparents and I disagreed from time to time. But it was a happy family. Short of my parents being here as well, I'd say I couldn't be happier with my family.

I wondered if Helga thought the same way. Her family wasn't perfect, but surely there must have been happy times too? She must have had some girl time with her sister, bonded with her mother or hung out with her dad at _some_ point in her life, right? Problem was that I wasn't sure if that wasn't just me looking at the bright side as usual. What if Helga truly hadn't had those typical family experiences, the happy ones at least? What if she was right and that her family had only ever cared about whether she did well at ballet or not? The thought saddened me more than I was willing to admit.

I then remembered Helga's words when we had run into each other after one of my dates with Lila. Right before we reached Avon, she had mentioned some movie she wanted me to watch. Something that would give me perspective to quote her. I thought hard about what it was called for a while before I finally remembered. I grabbed my laptop and searched for the movie online. I didn't like watching movies illegally, but I didn't have the patience to go and find the movie at that moment. I was too curious to see what Helga had meant.

 _The Stepford wives_ was about an ambitious woman who had recently gotten fired after being shot at. Her husband suggested they'd move to Stepford with their children and she went along with it for the sake of calming her nerves. Stepford was filled with what you'd call picture perfect wives of the 50's. They cooked, they cleaned, they were kind and did everything their husbands wanted. The main character, who was played by Nicole Kidman, was totally freaked out by them all through the whole movie until she realized that these women had personality chips inserted in them. Basically, these woman were being controlled by their husbands who couldn't handle that their wives were so much more successful than them in every way. The movie ended with Nicole Kidman and her husband saving the wives and the husbands getting what they deserved.

When the movie was over, a deep frown was on my face. I may have been dense, but even I could see why Helga told me to watch this particular film. The Stepford wives definitely had traits similar to Lila's. The chipper personality, their view on the world, even the clothes and hairdos seemed like something Lila would choose. I closed my laptop in frustration. I had been totally creeped out by these fake housewives through the entire film so why didn't Lila freak me out as well? Now that I thought about it, what were Lila's plans for her future anyway? What did she want to do? I knew that she was smart, way too smart to be a housewife anyway. Of course that was her choice what she would do with her life, but the thought of being married to a Stepford wife gave me goosebumps. Was Helga right? Would Lila grow up and become such a woman?

I was pulled out by my web of thoughts when my phone rang. I almost jumped off my bed and I put my hand to my chest to calm my heart down. I grabbed my phone and saw Gerald's name on the screen. When I answered, he sounded extremely excited.

"Hey, man! Get down to Slausen's _right now_!"

"Slausen's?" I repeated.

"Yes! They're having a huge sale! Free ice cream, man! I'm calling everyone right now. Get our ass down here!" Gerald ordered and I couldn't help but chuckle at his enthusiasm.

After agreeing to meet there, I hung up on him and jumped out of my bed. I quickly changed my clothes and ran down the stairs. "Grandpa, grandma! I'm going to Slausen's! Want me to bring you something?" I asked when I had reached the living room.

"Ooh!" Gertie said and lifted her hands excitedly. "Bring me some raspberry ice from your trip to the North Pole, Kimba!"

"Aw, Pookie, not raspberries." My grandpa bellowed unhappily, his stomach growling in agreement.

I chuckled. "What do you want, grandpa?"

"Anything but raspberries!" he responded to which Gertie laughed maliciously. They started one of their usual, playful bickers and I smiled on my way out. That's what I wanted in the future; to be with someone I'd still have this much fun with even when we're 80-years-old.

Once I had my shoes on, I ran out of the door, ready to meet Gerald and presumably everyone else in our class. Knowing him, he had probably called everyone on his phone. I made a sharp halt when I got outside though. What had caught my attention stared back at me with as much surprise.

"Helga?" I asked in surprise.

She looked back past me at the boarding house. "Wait... you live in Sunset Arms?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah..." I said, still completely baffled from seeing her. "But why are you - - "

"Oh, my God! _The old coot's grandson_ , now it makes sense!" she said in excited disbelief.

"What?"

"When Bob called you that, remember? It took me a while to figure out, but you're Phil's grandson, aren't you?" Helga asked and approached me on the stoop.

"Phil? How do you know my grandpa?"

"Phil ran into Bob's new car like 7 years ago, they had a big fight about whose fault it was, it was completely ridiculous, but your grandpa really gave my dad what was coming to him. Bob was pissed for weeks, it was awesome." Helga said with a big grin on her face, almost as if my grandpa was her idol.

I smiled, mostly because the whole situation seemed so surreal. "Wait, _your_ dad was the guy who wrecked grandpa's Packard?"

"And your grandpa broke my dad's Lexus." Helga confirmed. We kept smiling for a while before we started laughing loudly. "Oh, boy. I'm a big fan of your grandpa. Can I say hello?"

"Uh, sure? Do you think he'll know who you are though?" I asked and opened the door again.

"I was there when they ran into each other. I think he will recognize me." Helga insisted as she walked inside.

"Short man, that you? That was quick!" my grandpa asked before he came jogging out of the living room and stared at Helga when he saw her. He tilted his head to the side, observing her for a moment and then gasped. "The little blonde girl with the unibrow and the pink bow!"

"Unibrow?" I repeated and looked at Helga's face, but I saw nothing that even resembled that.

"I got rid of that sucker when I was 13-years-old." Helga explained as she pushed my forehead away from here. "But yeah, that's me."

Grandpa laughed loudly and pulled Helga into a tight hug. "I hoped I'd see you again! If only to ask what your jerk of a dad has been up to!" he said as he swung her around.

"Same deal as always." Helga answered as he put her down.

"W-Wait!" I said and they looked at me. "I'm still confused. You ran into her dad's car, but why are you two so familiar?"

"Well, Helga was the one who helped me convince Bob that it was all his fault." Phil said as he patted Helga's shoulder. "She's one sneaky devil. Don't get on her bad side."

I looked at Helga. "What did you do?"

"Let's just say that even though I'm not daddy's little princess like Olga is, I'm still his daughter and God forbid that he would look like a fool in front of me. All I had to do was cry some crocodile tears and bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, my dad's writing this one a check." Helga said as she bumped her shoulder against grandpa's arm.

I was still in shock. Had my grandpa known Helga for years? How come I never came across her if that was true? Then again, if they hadn't seen each other since then it would make sense. Still, it seemed strange. It was almost like they knew each other.

"Why does it feel like you've known her for years?" I asked and crossed my arms.

"Well, not even Helga knows this, but you two played together as kids." Grandpa explained with a shrug.

"What?" Helga and I bellowed in unison and looked at each other, as if we could somehow determine the truth by doing so.

"Well, kids as in toddlers." Grandpa corrected.

"Oh, then no wonder we don't remember each other." Helga said, sighing in relief. "I was ready to head to a neurologist for a moment."

"Your parents took you to Hillwood playground when you were small, Arnold. Helga was usually there too. You two seemed to make a connection and you always played with each other." Grandpa said with a fond smile on his face. "I kept taking you there too when your parents left, but Helga stopped showing up at some point."

I looked at Helga and noticed her face falling. "Right... Olga was the one who took me to that playground. When she moved at 18, I never came back there." she mumbled. Something told me that she was remembering this as she talked and she looked at me somehow sadly. "I wonder if Olga remembers you."

"I'm sure she does. We used to talk while you two played." Grandpa said with his usual toothless grin. "I think we only saw your parents there a couple of times. The first time I met Bob at the playground, I noticed that she changed completely around that dad of yours."

Helga's eyes widened a bit at that information. "She did?"

"Oh, yeah! When it was just the two of you, she was so down on earth and happy. She became a doll around your parents though." Grandpa said and scratched his head. "When he tried to stop you from playing in the sand with Arnold, she distracted him by talking about her grades and her piano recitals, She always did her best to keep him out of your hair so you could play with Short man in peace."

"Huh..." Helga said quietly. "She... never mentioned doing that for me."

"What do you want her to tell you?" Grandpa asked. "That your parents hated the thought of you playing with dirt so much that they were ready to grab you and never let you go back? Which I guess is what they did when your sister moved…"

"What happened after that?" I asked Helga, but she shrugged. It wasn't like she could remember it either, I supposed. We were toddles after all.

"Well, when we realized that Helga wasn't going to come back and had to tell you…" Grandpa said with a small chuckle. "You started crying."

I blinked. "I what?" I asked in embarrassment. I looked at Helga, expecting her to be laughing at me, but she just looked at grandpa in surprise.

"You were crying so much, _nothing_ made you stop until you finally fell asleep from the exhaustion. You refused to go back to the playground too after that. Whenever I tried, you'd just shake your head and crawl away from me." Grandpa said and then started laughing. "It was so sad, but so cute if you think about it!"

I could feel my cheeks heat up. I didn't remember it at all, but I saw no reason why grandpa would lie about such a thing. Had I really been so sad because Helga didn't come back to the playground? The thought alone made me embarrassed and when I saw that Helga was holding back a chuckle herself, I frowned. When she looked at me though, she couldn't hold her laughter back.

"You two are so mean!" I bellowed unhappily, but a smirk cracked on my face. The whole thing was just so weird. I had never known my entire life that not only did my grandpa know Helga way before I did, but I even used to play with her when we were in diapers. Had I really been so unhappy when she disappeared? It was hard to imagine. Then I gasped. "Gerald!" I bellowed and ran out in the hallway again. "I-I need to get going again. Helga, I'll see you at the next ballet lesson, ok?"

"Since when are you taking ballet, Short man?" Grandpa asked me in confusion.

"No, no!" I groaned. "Helga and Lila are taking ballet together!"

Grandpa hummed in recognition. "Right, right. The old family pleaser, eh? You're still doing that?"

"I've been trying to get out." Helga answered.

"Wait, wait, wait!" I said and stuck my head back into the living room. "How do you know about that?"

"She started doing ballet as soon as her sister moved, of course we knew. She might have stopped coming to the playground, but we tried to get ahold of her again. I still remember the first recital I saw with you, Helga." Grandpa said with a frown. "Your parents were so proud."

Helga groaned. "And that hasn't changed since then."

"I hope you'll get out of it soon."

"Wait!" I cried again. "How do you know she wants to stop doing ballet?"

Grandpa blinked. "I might be an old coot, Short man, but even I can figure out that when a man brags about his daughter while she is rolling her eyes, she's not proud of the same thing he is."

I sighed and waved my hand dismissively. "I'll get the details when I come back, I need to go. Helga, you want to follow me out?"

"Nah, I think I'll hang around here actually. I might sneak into your room." Helga said in a joking manner, but something told me that grandpa would definitely show her my room if she asked. The thought made me a little embarrassed, but I didn't have the time to insist that Helga followed me out. Gerald was waiting for me and something told me that being late because of Helga of all people wasn't going to be a good enough excuse for him when it was about free ice cream.

* * *

As I had guessed, Gerald had been more than a little annoyed when I finally showed. After explaining the situation to him though, he went into shock mode. It was even worse than when I had told him she kissed me. The thought of me enjoying actual playtime with Helga when I was a kid was enough to make him get extra whip cream on his ice cream. I admit, it was a big surprise. I decided to ask my grandparents more about it once I got home too.

I walked into Sunset Arms, carrying some buckets of ice cream for all the boarders. "I'm home!" I shouted and was met with sugar hungry boarders. After everyone had grabbed their ice cream, and I had made sure Oskar didn't grab any extras, I walked into the living room to see me grandpa sitting in his usual chair. I threw his ice cream at him and he licked his lips expectantly. Grandma just laughed though when she got hers and jogged out of the room. I wasn't sure what she was planning, but grandpa would probably feel it soon. "So, when did Helga go home?"

"About ten minutes ago." Grandpa answered as he dug his spoon into his ice cream. He had probably been sitting here, waiting for me to return with his ice cream.

"Ten minutes ago, was she here for that long?" I asked in surprise. "What did you talk about?"

"Well, mostly about you, Short man." Grandpa answered. "I also showed her your room."

 _Big surprise_ , I thought as I grabbed a spoon of my own and dug it into my ice cream. "Did she ask you to or did you offer?"

"Now, what difference does that make, Arnold?" Grandpa asked with his mouth full of ice cream. "I also showed her your dad's journal."

The ice cream I had been in the middle of swallowing got stuck in my throat and I coughed for a bit before showing grandpa a pair of wild eyes. "Why would you do that?!"

"She told me that you mentioned the situation with Miles and Stella. That was quite a surprise." Grandpa answered. "You've never told anyone as much as you've told Helga. I don't think even Gerald knows as much as she did."

I opened my mouth to argue against him, but I knew he was right. I hadn't realized it until I came home that day, but I had in fact poured my guts out to Helga. I wasn't sure what had made me do it, if she had caught me by surprise or if I had been affected by her own family situation, but I had told Helga more that day than I had ever told Gerald my entire life. He didn't even know about my dad's journal, though he did know where my parents where. That was more than what Lila knew. Now that I thought about it, she had never asked me about them and I had never told her either. For all she knew, my parents could have died and my grandparents took me in. I had never told her anything else. So, how did Helga become the one person that knew everything?

"She was mostly interested in the map actually." Grandpa said, pulling me out of my web of thoughts.

"The map?"

"The one Miles drew of San Lorenzo."

"Yeah, I know which map you're talking about…" I said with a bit of a slanted look on my face. "But why would Helga be interested in that?"

"I don't know." Grandpa said as he munched on his ice cream. "Maybe she likes ya'?"

His suggestion almost made me choke on the ice cream again. "Yeah, right." I chuckled.

"Why's that funny?"

"I don't think Helga's really interested in anyone like that. I think relationships is the last thing on her mind." I said, but I could feel a voice in my head telling me that I didn't really believe it. She _had_ kissed me after all so surely there was at least a spark of curiosity in her, but she also said she didn't know why she had kissed me. Maybe she had lied and she actually just saw the chance to kiss someone… but that would make it her first kiss and she said that it wasn't. So, why had she done it? And who was her first kiss anyway?

"Well, Arnold, if past has told us anything then you don't know anything about girls." Grandpa said and dug his spoon into his ice cream again.

"Thanks, grandpa." I said with a slightly annoyed look on my face. He just grinned at me though and continued eating his ice cream in silence, which told me that he was done talking about Helga unless I had any other questions. Which I didn't after all that. The only person who could answer me was Helga herself after all and there was no way I could actually ask her if she had a crush on me or not.

* * *

I was pretty late in picking Lila up the next day so I saw her walking out the door as I came running down the street. She smiled at me and waved. "Hi, Arnold! You made it!" she said excitedly.

I smiled back at her, but it disappeared when I saw Helga and Matt walking out of the door as well. Helga noticed me and smirked. "Hey, enjoyed the ice cream last night?" she asked.

"Yeah. Did you enjoy snooping around in my dad's journal?" I asked in a seething voice once I had reached them.

Helga's smile fell. "Snoop around? Excuse me, but your grandpa offered to let me look at it. What's with the attitude?" she asked and crossed her arms.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. "Sorry..." I said honestly. "It's just... I don't understand why you wanted to look in that journal to begin with."

"What journal?" Lila asked in confusion and looked between me and Helga.

"Stay out of it, princess." Helga snapped. "I was just curious. Is that a crime?"

"No, but it _is_ kinda an invasion of my privacy, isn't it?"

"How so, Football Head? That journal told me nothing you hadn't already!"

"But you still went through my stuff without my permission!"

" _Your_ stuff? That journal belongs mostly to your dad, but it belongs to your grandpa just as much as to you so having his permission is enough, don't you think?!"

"Stop!" Matt said and went between us. He looked at Helga over his shoulder before he looked at me. "Look, I don't know what you two are talking about, but I'm almost 100% sure that Helga didn't mean any harm in doing whatever that made you so pissed."

The fact that Matt didn't know what we were talking about caught me by surprise. A part of me had been sure that Helga had blabbed the whole thing, but I was proved wrong about her once again. "Sorry." I said as I leaned to the side, looking at Helga over Matt's shoulder.

Helga glanced at me without turning her head towards me. Her lower lip went inside her mouth and she chewed on it for a moment before Matt looked at her. She took a second to look at him before she sighed. She then shrugged, declaring that she wasn't angry anymore. Or that she at least didn't care enough to dwell on it.

"Good... now, what was this about a map?" Matt asked as he quirked an eyebrow.

"None of your business, Matt." Helga said before leaning against the wall. "It's not my story to tell."

"I wasn't asking you." Matt argued. "You know, you've been acting really bitchy lately. What's with you?"

Helga shrugged again. "Maybe I just am a bitch. It seems to be a general consensus."

"It's not, Helga. I never once thought of you that way." Lila declared and a small, crooked smile spread on Helga's face.

"Me neither," I agreed. "but you _are_ hard to handle."

"Hear that." Matt agreed with me. Helga made a low chuckle, but she kept looking at the ground. I watched as Matt stepped closer to her. Closer than I had seen them before and Helga didn't even seem to blink when he did. "Does this have anything to do with what I told you?"

Helga looked at Matt who was barely 5 inches away from her face. "No." she answered plainly, looking at him without even a hint of discomfort from how close he was. It made me question their relationship once again, especially when he sighed and started resting his forehead against her head. He almost seemed disappointed by her answer.

I looked at Lila, noticing the small frown on her face. "Do you know what they're talking about?" I whispered in her ear. She shivered in surprise and I leaned back. The frown disappeared from her face and she shook her head. She seemed like she hadn't even been aware of the face she had been making.

The sound of a car honking caught our ears. I turned around in surprise and saw a white Bentley driving near us. Helga stepped away from Matt and a bright smile spread on her face, one I had never seen on her before. She waved her hand at the car and I noticed a small girl clapping on the window excitedly. She was probably about 3-years-old, had blonde hair tied into pigtails, a white and pink dress and a big sugar-coated grin on her face.

"Who is that?" I asked curiously.

"That would be my beloved big sister and her daughter Nika." Helga somewhat sarcastically, but she sure seemed happy to see someone she had spoken so ill of.

"Wait, you have a niece?" I asked.

Helga gave me a slanted look. "My sister's daughter would be my niece, yes."

"You never mentioned that."

Helga shrugged. "I didn't see a reason to." she explained and looked back at the white Bentley that had just stopped next to us. The girl jumped out of the car excitedly and ran towards Helga who opened her arms for her. Helga lifted her into her arms and swung her around before she held Nika out enough for her to look at the small girl. Then, rather than saying hello, she made some strange movements with the hand that she wasn't using to hold her. Then Nika used both of her hands to make similar strange motions with a big grin on her face.

"She's deaf." I declared dumbfounded.

Helga frowned at me. "Yeah and thank God for that because that means she didn't hear you declare that so stupidly." she said and Nika looked at me too. Helga made some movements with her hand again and Nika just nodded.

"What did you just tell her?"

"That you've never met someone deaf before."

"How do you know that I haven't?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe it was the way you said the word _deaf_ in such an unfamiliar fashion." Helga said and shook her head at me. She got Nika's attention again by poking her nose and then she pointed at me. Her fingers then formed into different shapes and Nika watched her intently. She then looked at me with a big smile, pointed at herself and made the similar movements with her hand. "She's telling you her name."

"I-I can't answer." I said.

"You don't have to, I introduced you to her." Helga said dismissively and walked towards Lila. She made similar movements with her fingers and Nika introduced herself politely to Lila who waved at her with a big smile. Helga then continued to Matt and once those two were introduced, Nika pointed at me and Helga walked back. She watched Nika for a bit as she signed and then snickered. "Uh, she's asking why your head is so wide."

I frowned deeply at Helga's words and shot Lila and Matt a bit of a look when I heard them laugh. I looked back at Nika who was signing at Helga again. "What is she saying now?" I asked.

"She wants his head to be as big as yours." Helga translated and then smirked at me. "She thinks it's cool."

I blinked in surprise. "Oh... that's not something I've heard before." I said and watched Helga translate for me. "Uh, how do I tell her thank you?"

Helga looked at me in surprise, but then smiled. "You tap the corner of your mouth with a flat hand and then wave it down." she explained to me. I did as told and Nika smiled broadly at me before she waved a flat hand around in a circle and then gestured to herself. I looked at Helga questioningly. "That means _you're welcome_."

"Oh, sweet baby sister." a sugary voice said and I turned to look at her. She had blonde hair, a bit lighter than Helga's was and it was bobbed. She looked elegant and sophisticated despite being a mother of such a young kid. "Please don't tire yourself too much by signing for everyone."

"Hey, I need the practice. I only ever do ASL when you two are here." Helga responded and put Nika back on the ground. She instantly ran towards Olga and she scooped her into her arms. "You on the other hand shouldn't carry her around so much."

"You were carrying her a second ago!"

"And you carry her all the freaking time." Helga argued back with a smirk in Nika's direction. She signed as she spoke. "I'll be right with you, ok?"

Nika signed back at her with a smile before Olga carried her back to the car. I, Lila and Matt approached Helga. "So, she's staying with you in your parents' house?" I asked with a smile.

"Uh, no. Olga and Nika will be staying at a hotel nearby." Helga responded.

"Why?" I asked with a frown. "That seems weird. Why isn't she staying with you - - "

"I'll only say this once because I hate talking about it." Helga said in a warning tone and looked at me. "My parents disowned Olga the second they found out Nika was deaf and Olga refused to give her away for adoption. I don't want to hear about this again, is that clear?"

With those words, Helga turned her back to us and jogged towards the car. She got inside next to Nika and I saw a fake, broad smile spread on her face as she signed with her. We watched them drive away in the white Bentley and I wasn't sure whether the others were as shocked as I was or not. I turned to look at them, at Matt in particular.

"What did she mean by that?" I asked.

Matt groaned. "Well... I guess she already told you the overall issue so…" he said and seemed to decide to tell us the story. "When Olga told Bob and Miriam that her kid was deaf they, um… they didn't take it too well. Or more like Bob didn't take it too well, but Miriam doesn't really go against him so… Anyways, Bob told her she should give Nika away for adoption and when she refused, he said he'd take her out of his will and that he never wanted to see her again."

"Wait, wait, wait!" I said and closed my eyes, trying to comprehend the information I had just gotten. I noticed the completely heartbroken look on Lila's face before I looked at Matt again. "Are you telling me that… that because Olga's daughter is deaf... her dad wants nothing to do with them?"

"That about sums it up." Matt said and he could see I was about to get hysterical so he stopped me. "Listen, Arnold. Or actually both of you," he said and looked at Lila. "what you need to understand about the Pataki's is that there isn't room for flaws, mistakes or disabilities. They want to look perfect at least in the eyes of others. Even though they're completely rotten on the inside. There's nothing we can do about it, ok? If you want to help Helga, just don't dig too much in it."

I wanted to argue against Matt, tell him that I wanted to ask Helga what I could do to help her. If there was something I could do at all that was. I kept my mouth shut even though I kept thinking that there must have been something I could do. Even if it was only listening to her like I had already offered.

Helga had told me that Olga was Bob and Miriam's favorite their entire lives, that she was their sweet, perfect angel and that Helga was the black sheep. If that was how they treated their perfect daughter, how would they start treating Helga if she truly quit ballet? Would she get disowned too? She was only 16-years-old for heaven's sake, did she even realize what might happen if they actually disowned her like they did to her sister? I couldn't just sit by and wait for something like that to happen, but I didn't know what I could do or if there was anything I could do at all. I hadn't felt this helpless since I realized that I wouldn't be able to find my parents. And the fact that I was feeling like this because of Helga left me in a state of confusion once more.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: All I really have to say for the second author's note is that Nika's name is fully inspired by Olga's voice actress Nika Futterman. I wanted to give her a son at first, but I couldn't think of a name that would make proper sense to me xD**


	6. Far from over

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Boring"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **On my way to meet with Gerald at Slausen's, I ran into Helga outside Sunset Arms. She told me that she met my grandpa on the day he and her dad rammed into each other with their cars and had been a fan of his since he had pissed her dad off. After talking with them both for a while, grandpa told us that we used to play as toddlers which was also why he knew about her family situation.**_

 _ **After finding out that Helga had been looking at my dad's journal and especially the map, I decided to confront her about it at the next ballet lesson. She had no explanation for it though, claiming it was just curiosity and soon it was forgotten anyway. I met her big sister Olga and her daughter Nika whom I found out was deaf. I also found out that Bob and Miriam had disowned Olga for not giving her deaf daughter away for adoption. I once again found myself completely entangled in Helga's life no matter how much I tried to get out.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: Yeah, I know; I'm just as surprised as you are. How did I go from a whole week between chapters to two chapters in two days? I don't know either xD Enjoy! :P**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 6: "Far from over"

"Gosh, Arnold. Everything looks just ever so much fun. What do you want to try first?" Lila asked me as she took my hand and bounced excitedly. Her enthusiasm was contagious and I ran along with her.

We had just entered Dinoland and it was our first date in what felt like forever. Lila had told me recently that she had never been to Dinoland before and I instantly invited her here. We had been on a similar date before back in fourth grade when I was still trying to win her affection, but this place was way different. The Cheese Festival was a romantic place after all while Dinoland was more for fun. I felt like Lila and I, mostly Lila, needed a break from the romance and just have some fun without all the pressure from this newborn relationship. She was still very shy around me and just the fact that she had taken my hand on her own made me happy.

Lila and I had spent an hour trying to find some rides that wouldn't make her feel queasy which was a harder mission than you might think. It was easy enough at the cheese festival because it was mostly about cheese and a few simple rides. Dinoland was more for the people seeking some adrenaline and all we had been on so far was the Terrordactor Egg Cups and she needed to take a break after that. I was slowly giving up on finding a more exciting ride and just made do with holding Lila's hand which still felt incredibly small in mine. To my discomfort, I remembered how different it had felt when Helga had taken my hand, how it had seemed to be more of a perfect fit. I shook the thought away and suggested Lila to get something to eat.

"Oh, yes, Arnold. That sounds like an ever so good idea." The redhead responded and we headed towards a small café called Shack a Saurus.

"Oh, put a sock in it!" I heard a much too familiar voice shout before she laughed.

"Was that Helga?" I asked and looked towards the voice and thereby answered my own question. Helga was sitting at one of the tables together with Matt who currently had some food in his mouth which I assumed, by the way Helga was laughing, she had put in there. She was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans along with a white top and a black vest that she hadn't buttoned. She had her hair loose and somehow the word _gorgeous_ passed through my mind.

Lila's hand left mine as soon as Helga and Matt noticed us. I didn't have the time to wonder exactly why she did it before I heard Helga groan. "Fantastic." She muttered and I watched as Matt bumped his hand against her arm in a reprimanding way, but he was smiling as he did so.

 _Great_ , I thought when I realized that Lila and I had truly just bumped into Helga and Matt in Dinoland of all places. "Hi," I said and waved politely. "what are you two doing here?"

"Take a wild guess, Football Head." Helga snapped.

"There's no reason to get snippy, Helga." I sighed.

"There's plenty reason. I'm starting to think that you're stalking me."

" _Me_?! You're the one that showed up outside my home last Saturday!"

"You what?!" Matt said and looked at Helga who gulped. "That's where you were instead of meeting up with me at Slausen's?"

 _Oops_ , I thought without truly knowing why. It wasn't like I had invited Helga there and I sure as hell hadn't known about any other plans of hers.

Helga looked at me furiously before looking back at Matt. "It's not like I knew that Arnold lived there. It turns out that I know his grandpa and I just… forgot. I already apologized." She said calmly.

Matt sighed and sat back down. "Never mind… but I guess that explains why you refused to tell me where you were." He said and looked at me with a bit of hatred in his eyes. Those dark eyes made me gulp, but they were instantly replaced with the usual kind ones. "Do you two want to join us?"

 _Hell no_ , I wanted to shout, but kept my composure. Helga seemed to agree with me though, if the way she was glaring at Matt was any indication, but Lila seemed oblivious to it. She accepted happily and sat down next to Helga who scooted a little to the side to make room for her. Hiding a sigh, I sat down between Lila and Matt which meant I was right across Helga. The anger from before was gone and now she just looked plainly uncomfortable by my presence. Or maybe it was Lila's presence, I wasn't really sure. I had a feeling that it was mine though.

"So, are you two having fun?" Matt asked, clearly trying to get the awkward mood to go away.

"They're having a blast, that's why they decided to join us." Helga answered on our behalf. Matt gave her a bit of a look and she sighed. "Did you… try the Dinowhirl yet?"

"That's the best you could come up with?" Matt half-whispered to Helga.

"Hey, I tried."

"We haven't actually. Is it fun?" Lila asked with her usual chipper smile.

"It's insane!" Helga said excitedly as her fist clashed on the table. Lila jumped in surprise, but she kept smiling as she listened to Helga describing the ride. I noticed that Lila's face got greener and greener as Helga talked though and she seemed to notice it too. "You had too much sunshine, princess?"

"Oh, n-no, I just, um…" Lila mumbled uneasily.

"Lila gets a little queasy on the big rides." I explained with a small smile. I expected Lila to look at me with gratitude, but she just frowned to herself, which surprised me. Lila wasn't the kind of girl to hide her weaknesses; why did she care if Matt and Helga knew about this?

"Oh, then you definitely want to stay away from the Tyranno scare-us." Matt said. "It's supposed to be the highest roller coaster in the world."

"Oh, my. Th-Then I'll definitely stay away from that." Lila said.

The mere name of that roller coaster made me feel sick to my stomach. When I was in fourth grade I got stuck in that ride with Eugene for several hours. I already had a small fear of heights back then, but after that I was just downright terrified just thinking about it. Being stuck in a roller coaster does things to people, but I really didn't want anyone else to know about it.

"Well, _I_ have to try it. It's the only ride that really gets me pumped." Helga said and finished her Yahoo soda. "So, are you wusses ready for the ultimate Dinoland challenge?"

 _No. No, I'm not_ , I thought, but stood up with the others anyhow. I didn't even feel hungry anymore as we walked through the park towards the Tyranno scare-us. Just the sight of that thing made me feel like… well, like Lila probably did whenever she saw a ride that was just half as small.

"Wow, that's pretty high." Matt said as he leaned back to look at the roller coaster.

"And fast too." Helga added. "So, you up for it? Well, I know Lila isn't."

I made a small gulp and shook my head slightly. "I should probably stay down here with Lila." I answered, counting my blessings that I had her as a legitimate excuse.

"Oh, what a noble excuse." Helga said with a smirk and crossed her arms. "What's the matter, Football Head? Scared of heights?"

"No." I insisted, but in reality just looking at the roller coaster made me sick.

"Come on, chicken." Helga said and waved her hand at me. With a sigh, I followed her. "What about you, Matt?"

"I'll stay here with Lila."

 _Oh, great. Leave your girlfriend with another guy just to prove you aren't chicken to the girl who pisses you off the most._ I thought to myself as I sat down in the ride. _Something is seriously wrong with me!_

"I wonder why there's no one else on the ride." Helga muttered as she sat down in the seat in front of me.

"Probably has something to do with what happened 7 years ago." I muttered.

Helga turned her head to look at me, her arm relaxing on the backrest. "What happened 7 years ago?"

I looked at her in surprise, I hadn't even realized that I had talked. "Oh, um… the roller coaster got stuck for hours." I explained.

Helga got a wild look in her eyes. "What?!" she screamed just before the unmistakable sound of the roller coaster starting echoed in our ears. She turned her back to me and I noticed that her hands were clenching the safety bar just as much as mine were.

I shut my eyes tightly as the ride started and just prayed for it to be over soon. When it finally stopped, I sighed in relief and opened my eyes. What I saw wasn't the small station at the ground though, I was looking at the sky and the back of Helga's head. She leaned to the right and looked down before she looked back at me.

"Uh… don't panic."

"Why would I panic?" I asked and looked down. I gasped at the much too familiar sight of the ground below where I could just barely see Lila and Matt looking up at us. I looked around the tracks of the roller coaster and saw that we weren't moving. "Why aren't we moving?"

"Uh… so we can enjoy the view?" Helga suggested lamely, but then sighed. "I think we're stuck."

"No, this can't be happening…" I said quietly and closed my eyes again. "Please move. Please, please…"

"O-Ok, Arnold. Just relax. They'll get us down soon."

"They always say that!" I said and opened my eyes again. "It was dark by the time Eugene and I got down!"

"Wait, you were on this ride when it got stuck back then?! Why the fuck didn't you say that?!"

"Excuse me for not wanting to revisit a horrible memory!"

"Well, if you'd had the balls to open your fucking mouth, I wouldn't have asked you to join me on this!"

"No?"

"No! One thing is to be a wuss, another is to have a proper reason to be freaked out." Helga said and leaned to the side to look down again. "Ok, just… just don't look down. I mean, it's happened before, right? They should know what to do this time?"

"What do I know?" I asked, closing my eyes.

"Why the hell haven't they shot down this fucking thing? I'll get Bob to sue them for this." Helga said with a groan.

The sound of a megaphone caught our ears, but I refused to look down. I knew what they were going to say anyway. It was the usual shebang like I had heard when I was 9-years-old; everything was under control, there was no reason to worry and they were going to have it running soon. All lies.

"Fucking amazing." I heard Helga say. I could feel her eyes on me, but I refused to open my eyes. "Don't puke on me."

"No promises." I said with a weak smile. I was trying to joke, but it was half-hearted. _Please start running soon. Don't let me be stuck up here for hours again… Especially not with Helga!_ A sound caught my ears and I forced myself to open my eyes. What I saw made me shout. "What are you doing?!"

"Getting to your seat." Helga said as she was standing up.

"Are you insane?! Sit back down!"

"If you just shut up, I'll be fine!" Helga insisted and moved her leg over the backrest. The image of Helga pummeling to her death crossed my mind and I immediately grabbed her. She gasped as I put her down next to me, holding her tightly. "I would've been fine!"

"Don't ever do that again!" I shouted at Helga and she looked at me in surprise. "I thought my heart was gonna stop beating!"

Helga blinked. "S-Sorry…" she mumbled. I didn't notice that I was still holding her arms until she put her hands on them. I looked down between us and then let go of her. I closed my eyes again, wondering if my rapid heartbeat was still because I was stuck in a roller coaster. Helga seemed about to say something, but then her phone rang. I looked at her as she put it to her ear. "Matt - - "

"Are you outta your freaking mind?!" Matt's voice screamed so loudly in the phone that Helga held it away from her and I put my hands over my ears. "Why did you stand up in the freaking thing?! You could have died!"

"Well, I didn't, so pipe down!" Helga yelled in the phone and then put it to her ear. I closed my eyes again and listened to her talking to Matt. More like, I was listening to her voice, but I had no idea what they were talking about. I tried to steady my breathing and think about anything else; like being down on the ground with Lila in my arms. It didn't help all that much, but it was better than staying in the moment. A hand on my shoulder caught my attention and I jolted violently. I looked at the hand and then up at Helga who looked at me apologetically. "Sorry. Lila wants to talk to you."

I grabbed the phone Helga offered me, noticing in the back of my mind that she kept her hand on my shoulder and that her thumb was making soothing circles on my skin. "L-Lila?" I said in the phone and heard her sigh in relief. She asked me if I was ok and if there was something she could do. I smiled through the whole conversation, telling her it was going to be fine as soon as we got down and that it meant a lot to me that she was so worried about us. "Thanks, Lila." I said before giving the phone back to Helga who instantly shoved it into her pocket. She kept caressing my shoulder and it actually calmed me down quite a bit. "Why did you crawl back here?"

Helga seemed just as confused as to why I asked that as I was. "Well, I figured that the chance of you going into shock would be smaller if you weren't sitting back here alone." She replied and looked at the sky instead of me.

"Is that… also why you're touching my shoulder?" I asked and looked at her hand.

"Don't tell me you have Haphephobia?"

"I don't even know what that is."

"That's fear of being touched."

"Oh, n-no, I don't."

"So, my touch creeps you out that much, huh?" Helga asked and finally removed her hand from my shoulder.

I felt the fear creep back in my heart and I quickly grabbed her hand, placing it back on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, it really helps, don't stop." I said with my eyes shut tight. I was sure that my cheeks were slightly flushed from the embarrassment I felt from admitting how much such that simple gesture helped me calm down.

"You're a complicated guy, Arnold." Helga said and that made my eyes widen. That was the first time she had actually said my name. It sounded so alien in her voice, but I loved the way she said it, which made no sense. It wasn't like she had a special accent, her voice wasn't honey-coated, but the simple sound of my name on her lips made my heart skip a beat. And this whole situation was already hard enough on my heart. Her hand on my shoulder didn't help one bit even though it did actually help, but just not like that.

Before I knew what was happening, I had leaned forward and pressed my lips against Helga's. I could hear her gasp, but the sound felt so far away. It was enough to pull me back to reality though and I threw myself away from her. I felt my back hit the roller coaster and Helga grabbed my shirt to pull me back into safety. The wagon moved just a bit and we stayed perfectly still until it did as well. We sighed in relief and then looked at each other.

My eyes widened, remembering what I had just done, and I put my hand up to my mouth. _What was I thinking?!_ I thought. _Oh, right! Nothing, I was thinking nothing! How could I do that? It was one thing when Helga kissed me, but now I did the same thing! Lila's at the ground, worried about me and I'm kissing some other girl!_

"I'm sorry." I said without really looking at Helga.

"I'm not." She said and I frowned at her. "Hey, I got nothing to feel sorry about, right? _I_ didn't kiss _you_ this time. Ha-ha."

I sighed at the annoying, gleeful smirk on Helga's face while I put my hands in front of my face. "What am I doing?"

"Being stuck in a roller coaster and kissing a girl who is not your girlfriend while your actual girlfriend is on the ground, worried about you."

"Thanks for the recap."

"You're welcome."

"You… don't think she saw, right?" I asked worriedly.

"Arnold, they're like blubs." Helga replied as she leaned to the side and looked down. "The only reason Matt knew that I was moving around is because I was doing exactly that, _moving_ around. I don't think the small movement of you leaning in to give me a smooch was enough to catch their attention."

"It was in the heat of the moment." I insisted.

Helga quirked an eyebrow at me. "You can't just use my excuse against me."

"Who says that?"

"Common decency. Also, heat of the moments don't happen twice. Once is a coincidence, twice is a planned occurrence." Helga insisted and then smirked at me as she leaned closer. I automatically leaned back, feeling like I was a sitting duck in front of a stalking predator. "So, tell me… what made you kiss me?"

I looked at Helga before I leaned a little closer to her. "I don't know." I answered honestly. She looked at me in annoyance. "I mean it," I insisted. "I don't know why I kissed you. I think… I think you saying my name took me by surprise."

"That's all it takes; saying your name?" Helga questioned with a dirty smile and let her cheek touch mine. "Arnold…"

I shivered from the clear seductive tone in Helga's voice and leaned back again. "Don't do that." I begged and scratched my ear, hoping to get the feeling of her breath away from me.

Helga giggled and it was a strange sound to my ears; I didn't think she was capable of such a cute sound. "Boy, you are such a virgin." She teased.

"And you're not?" I asked and as soon as I said it, I wish I didn't. I didn't want to know about Helga's love life let alone her sex life.

"There's a clear difference between being virgin and acting virgin."

"Oh, yeah? How so?" I asked in slight annoyance.

"Let's just say that _you_ might as well be wearing your V card around your neck because that's how obvious it is. With me on the other hand, most people get shocked when I say I haven't had sex before." Helga said. My face most have taken on a look of disbelief because she snickered and pointed at me. "Yeah, right there. _That's_ the face people make."

"So… you and Matt haven't…?" I asked as I waved my hand.

"Good lord, no! How creepy would that be?" Helga asked sarcastically and shivered. "Why did you think of Matt?"

"Oh, I don't know." I said sarcastically. "Maybe because every time we run into each other, you're meeting up with him."

"So? Most of the time when I run into you, you're with Lila and you haven't fucked her yet." Helga said and I frowned at her choice of word. "And you two are actually dating."

"Are you sure you and Matt aren't dating?"

"Why do you think that?"

"Again, because every time I see you, you are meeting up with him and it just looks like you're really close."

"We're close because we've known each other since we were in diapers. You and I would probably be the same way if my parents had let me come back to that playground." Helga said casually and I frowned again.

Her words made me wonder what kind of relationship we would be in if we had really known each other for that long. We would probably be friends as a minimum, but maybe it was just possible we would have been more. All things considered, I did kinda like her. _Wait._ I thought and then my frowned deepened. _Like her? As in like her like her? As in me liking Helga? No way! No. No, no, no. Where did that thought even come from?!_

I shivered violently when something grazed against my neck. I tried to move, but Helga was holding a lock of my hair with her fingers. "What are you doing?" I asked in confusion.

"You had a blackout so I got bored."

"… That doesn't answer my question."

"I just started looking at your hair and wondered if it was actually long enough to make a braid."

"You're _braiding_ my hair?!"

"Hold still!" Helga said with a laugh and grabbed my head to prevent me from moving. "Come on, it's just to waste some time."

I readied myself to complain again, but then I just sighed and stayed still. I looked at Helga through my peripheral vision, noticing that she was biting on her tongue in concentration. I snickered at the sight; she didn't seem to notice because she just kept braiding my hair. It was a weird feeling, no one usually touched my hair except myself. It kind of tickled and when her fingers occasionally touched my skin, I had to keep my composure not to start trembling again. As she neared the end of my hair, I turned my head a little more to look at her. There was an oddly calm expression on her face and I caught myself feeling ensnared by her.

"There we go." Helga declared and her hands disappeared from my neck. "Huh, it actually kinda suits - - "

I cut Helga's sentence short by pulling her into another kiss. This time I hadn't just leaned in, I had literally grabbed her by her neck and pulled her closer. I could feel a small gasp escape from her lips while her hands went to my chest, out of reflex I assumed. I felt her hands slither down my body until they reached my hips. The moan I made in that moment caused me to do a mental backflip and I leaned away from her again. Helga opened her eyes and the moment I saw those blue orbs, I turned away from her and hid my face in my hands.

"What is wrong with me?" I wondered aloud.

"Is that a rhetorical question or are you expecting an actual answer?" Helga asked. I looked at her with a bit of hate in my eyes. She made a sound as if she was cold, but it was clearly sarcastic. "Hey, don't look at me like that. You're the one who keeps kissing me."

I sighed and leaned back against the backrest. It wasn't like I could argue against her after all. "What are you doing?" I asked when I felt Helga fiddling with my hair again.

"Just admiring my handiwork. Like I was trying to say before, it kinda suits you." Helga explained. I put my hand up to the braid, touching it for a bit. "Then again… maybe not." She declared and loosened it again.

"What changed your mind?" I asked in surprise.

"Well… I guess I just realized that braids is kinda Lila's thing and… it's bad enough that you're dating her." Helga explained and combed her fingers through my hair. "There's no reason for you to look like her too."

I shook my head in amusement, ignoring the way Helga's fingers in my hair made me nervous. It probably wouldn't matter how much time I'd spent with her, there was no way she'd start being predictable anytime soon. That was what Matt told me back then too when I was still getting to know Helga, which I of course still was. I wondered if Matt felt like he was still getting to know her too, all things considered. I wondered how he had reacted when Helga had told him about her big sister's child being deaf and what he told Helga when Bob had disowned her sister. Had Helga cried? Was she angry or didn't she care because of her relationship, or lack thereof, with her sister? I had all these questions, but not the courage to ask them.

"Hey, Arnold…" Helga said quietly. The gentleness in her voice surprised me and I looked at her, noticing that her fingers had left my hair. She looked at me through her long, black eyelashes and I felt a lump in my throat. "You really… shouldn't be dating Lila."

The nervousness I had felt disappeared in a flash and was replaced with irritation. "Not this again…" I sighed.

"Yes, this again." Helga maintained stubbornly. "I really don't think she's good for you."

"How come?" I asked. "Because she's _boring_?"

"Because she's going to break your heart!" Helga said a little louder. She looked at me with pure frustration in her eyes and that just confused me all the more.

"By being boring?!" I asked angrily.

"No!" Helga said and rolled her eyes.

"Then how? How do you know she's going to break my heart?" I asked and Helga opened her mouth to speak, but then she seemed to change her mind. She looked at the safety bar in front of us rather than me. "Do you know something about Lila that I don't?"

Helga looked at me again. "I don't… I don't _know_ something, I… I just have a feeling. My gut tells me that she'll break your heart." She decided upon saying.

I looked at her in disbelief. "I'm sorry, Helga, but your _gut_ isn't a good enough excuse for me." I said, crossed my arms and turned away from her. I could only imagine how childish I must have looked doing that and when I looked at Helga again, I expected her to be rolling her eyes or looking at me in frustration. Instead she was just chewing on her lower lip in deep though, almost as if she was trying to come up with a better argument.

"I might not _know_ this for sure, but I have eyes in my head." Helga muttered to herself.

"Oh, unlike me?" I asked insulted.

"Yes, unlike you! Even your grandpa agreed that you're as dense as a brick! You can't see what's beyond your fucking nose!"

"What am I supposed to see?!"

"Has it never occurred to you that Lila might be - - "

The sound of someone talking caught our ears. Helga leaned back to look at the ground as one of the workers told us that the roller coaster would be running again in a few seconds. She told us to hold on tight and Helga grabbed the safety bar dutifully, refusing to look at me. I sighed and copied her action, wondering what she had been about to say before the ride continued. Once we were down at the ground again, Lila and Matt came running towards us.

"Are you two ok?" Matt asked and was about to hug Helga, but Lila beat him to it.

"Are you hurt?" Lila asked with big eyes and Helga shook her head. She let go of Lila and she immediately threw herself at me. "And you, Arnold? Was it scary? Are you ok? Do you need to sit down?"

"I-I'm fine, Lila. Really." I insisted with a smile and caressed her cheek. "Thank you for worrying so much about me though."

Lila sighed in relief and let go of me. I turned to see Matt holding Helga in his arms, sighing in relief. The sight made me frown, but I wasn't sure why. I grabbed Lila's hand and at first, she looked at me in surprise, but then accepted my touch. I noticed Helga looking at us, or rather scowling. I kept holding Lila's hand though, refusing to back down because of a _gut feeling_. It wasn't good enough. Until Helga could tell me a hard fact about Lila that would make me think differently, there was no way I was going to give up on her. I had fought for her for too long to back out so soon. We had only been dating for a couple of months.

* * *

We all agreed that after the disaster at the roller coaster, none of us were really in the mood to continue through Dinoland. We took the train home, mostly in silence. Lila was exhausted after being so worried about us so she fell asleep with her head on my shoulder. Helga refused to acknowledge my presence through most of the journey home until we had to separate with Lila and Matt. They had to go one way and Helga and I had to go the other so we were currently walking side by side towards her house.

Once we reached it, I assumed Helga would just jog up her stoop and leave without a word, but when she was at her door, she turned to look at me. "You have absolutely no idea why I think Lila might break your heart, do you?" she asked somewhat accusingly, but also tiredly.

I looked back at her and sighed. "No, I have no idea." I admitted.

The blonde girl looked at me for a moment and then groaned. "Fine. It's _your_ heartbreak then." She declared before unlocking her door and going inside her house.

I glared at the door for a moment before waving my hand flippantly and continuing down the street. _Heartbreak, she says. What does she know?_ I thought and shoved my hands into my pockets to save them from the cold. Autumn was approaching, but it wasn't freezing just yet or anything. I looked into the dark evening sky, wondering once again why Helga cared so much. It didn't seem like she had any feelings for me as such and she had claimed she didn't know why she kissed me. With that being said, I didn't know why I had kissed her either. Why didn't I feel as guilty now as I did when it was Helga who had kissed me? It made no sense; I had made the move this time. Maybe Helga's words were just starting to get to me. No matter what, I had a feeling that this whole thing was far from over.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: Huh, it's the first time I have nothing to say in the second author's note I think.. No, wait. I'm curious; why do you think Helga says that Lila will break Arnold's heart? What are your theories? OwO**


	7. Those pigeons know it

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Boring"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **Lila and I went to Dinoland together and ran into Matt and Helga there. Despite my bad experience with a particular roller coaster, Helga still managed to provoke me into joining her in it. It broke, once again, and Helga realized why I didn't want to go on this particular ride. We stayed up there for about 10 minutes, but within that time I managed to kiss Helga not just once but twice.**_

 _ **I was still confused about my own feelings when we finally came down and Helga once again insisted that Lila would break my heart. I went home after that, wondering what made her think that Lila would do that to me.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: As always, I recommend listening to the song when it is mentioned in the story. It'll make the scene feel more real and give a better sense of what I want to portray :)**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 7: "Those pigeons know it"

"Helga, do some stretches. Lila, Justin, Matt, you come over here." Mademoiselle Pavlova said and made her signature clap.

I watched as Helga jogged towards me and sat down in a perfect split. I had to force my eyes away from her to focus on Lila instead. It had been a while since I last saw Helga and I wanted to say that I had been glad to be away from her. But that would be a lie. She had been on my mind since Dinoland and I had wondered over and over again why I had kissed her – not just once, but twice. I could only come up with one logical answer, but it wasn't one to my liking or one I would ever admit was likely.

"So, are you just gonna sit there and pretend I don't exist?" Helga's voice asked me.

I sighed and looked at her, but instantly looked away again when I saw that she was now leaning forward on the floor with her legs still spread in a perfect horizontal way. "I'm not ignoring you."

"Right, you're just not talking to me."

"You didn't talk to me either."

"I just did, bucko!"

 _Bucko?_ I thought and looked at Helga who was scowling at me. "What do you want me to say exactly?"

"A simple hello would be an appropriate beginning, I guess." Helga said with a shrug.

I held back a groan. "Hello." I said. Helga looked at me for a bit before she rolled her eyes. "What now?"

"You could at least pretend that you don't hate me."

"I don't hate you." I said in confusion.

"Sure feels like it." Helga said and kept my gaze for a moment before she went back to stretching.

"Well, I don't… but I don't know how I _do_ feel about you." I explained and saw in my peripheral vision that Helga was looking at me once again.

"Well, that's new…" Helga said and I looked at her. "Most of the time people have no doubt in their minds that they hate me. It's only weird people like Matt that like me."

"Yeah, well, call me crazy." I said jokingly. We kept our composure for a bit before we started laughing. Mademoiselle Pavlova instantly shushed us and we resorted to quiet chuckling. I smiled at her. "How is hanging out with your big sister?"

"A complete drag as always. But, hey, not as bad as when I was a kid." Helga answered with a shrug. I looked at her, hoping she would continue. "Since she stood her ground against dear old daddy, I've actually gotten some respect for her. It takes guts to go against a man like Bob."

"I can imagine…" I mumbled to myself and felt Helga connect her fist to my arm.

"Hey! Only I get to talk shit about my dad." She said with a chuckle. "He even refused to learn any ASL at all."

"Sign language?"

"Yeah, American Sign Language."

"… There's a difference?"

"Well, yeah. The alphabets and numbers are mostly the same, but the actual signs aren't."

"So, you're telling me that a deaf American can't talk to a deaf Spaniard?" I asked in disbelief. Helga nodded and that made me sigh. "That seems pretty stupid."

"Yeah, it's not like they have that many people to talk to." Helga agreed. "Nika only talks to me, Olga and a few teachers. There are no other deaf kids in her kindergarten."

"Must be kinda lonely."

"Not for a child." Helga corrected. "Children tend to be able to play with just about anyone because they don't know what the word _limits_ mean. Disabilities, language barriers, age gaps… those things don't matter to a kid. So they just communicate through body language. You'd be surprised how much those kids learn from Nika actually."

"They're learning ASL through her, I assume?"

"Yeah, it's so much fun to look at. Kids learn so much faster than adults." Helga said with a fond smile on her face. It was clear that she loved her niece very much.

"Can you teach me?"

Helga looked at me in surprise. "Why?" she asked in clear confusion. "What would you need it for?"

"Nothing, I guess. I'm just… curious." I admitted.

Helga tilted her head, which made her resemble a puppy somehow even though I'd say she was more like a cat normally. "Ok," she said and moved her legs so that she was sitting crisscross in front of me. "what do you want to learn?"

"I-I don't know, um… telling people my name?" I suggested lamely. Frankly, I wasn't sure why I had asked. I hadn't even thought about it until just now.

"A good start." Helga declared and put a flat hand on her chest. "This means _my_." She said and then pointed with her index- and middle finger on both hands and bumped them together. "And this means _name_."

I copied the action. "Seems simple enough… and how do I sign my name?"

"You spell it. Like this." Helga said and moved her right hand up. She made a series of motions with it that caused me eyes to buck out. She snickered at me. "A little slower?"

"Yes, please… I understood the L and O though."

"L is easy because we know it as the sign for _loser_ when we put it on our forehead and O is just a circle. We know more sign language than we think." Helga said and moved closer to me. "The A is basically a fist… No, don't put your thumb into it."

I moved my thumb out of my fist. "And R?"

"Cross your index- and middle finger and hold the other fingers down." Helga instructed and I did as told. "An N is just your thumb under your index- and middle finger… Yes, like that and you already know how to sign O and L. D is pointing with your index finger while the other fingers touch… No, stretch your index finger some more."

Helga grabbed my hand and readjusted my fingers. "L-Like this?" I asked when she finally let go. She nodded. "Ok, so… My name…" I muttered and signed as I did. Helga showed me the signs and I coped them a couple of times. "I'm having too much fun, aren't I?"

"Nah, it is pretty addictive once you get the hang of it." Helga agreed and her shoulders shook as she laughed.

"What else can you teach me?" I asked in excitement.

"Well - - " Helga said, but then Mademoiselle Pavlova's voice rang through the room. "Oh, gotta go."

Before I could say anything or even thank Helga, she had already jumped to her feet and was running towards her teacher. I smiled at the sight, chuckling to myself as I kept repeating the sign language I had just learned.

Once the ballet lesson was over, Lila came skipping over to me. "Arnold, we are all going out tonight. Want to come along?" she asked excitedly.

"Oh, but isn't it just for you guys?" I asked. "I don't want to impose."

"It's not an imposition." Justin insisted as he, Helga and Matt approached us. "One person more or less won't make a difference and the girls wanted you to come along."

"The girls?" I repeated, confused by the use of plural.

"Yeah, I suggested Lila that she brought you along." Helga said casually as she sat down next to my girlfriend and started untying her shoe.

 _And why did you do that?_ I wondered, but decided not to ask. "Sure, sounds like fun." I answered. Lila smiled brightly at me while Helga smirked. _It's not like I can say no to that face anyway_.

* * *

When I asked Lila what I should wear, she had told me that we were going to a somewhat casual dance club. I had chosen a simple pair of jeans and a black dress shirt. Frankly, I wasn't sure what to wear at all and Lila's mention of the location didn't make it any easier. I figured I couldn't go wrong with a dress shirt. I took the bus downtown to the address Lila had given me. It was a place near Ernie's pool hall, but it wasn't that particular place, thank goodness. I noticed that Lila was already there with Justin and some of the girls.

My eyes immediately fell on what Lila was wearing; a white dress shirt similar to mine and a black corset around it. Her thighs were covered in a green pencil skirt and she was wearing black ballerinas. She looked unbelievably cute and I told her as soon as I was close enough.

Lila moved a lock of her hair behind her ear and looked at me in shyness. "Thank you, Arnold. You look ever so dashing yourself."

"So I didn't make a big mistake wearing this?" I asked jokingly and looked down at myself.

"Oh, no. Not at…" Lila said and then seemed to freeze in place. "… all."

I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but I turned to look over my shoulder instead and got the answer myself. Helga and Matt were walking down the street next to each other, looking like something straight out of a model magazine. Matt was wearing black and black only; black shoes, pants, jacket, shirt and tie. But it wasn't Matt that made my knees buckle. Helga had her hair curled and it was embracing her neck gently. Her arms and part of her chest were decorated in see-through black lace, but her breasts, stomach and upper thighs were covered in what looked like black polyester. I could have sworn that a gong had just ricocheted in my head when I saw her.

The feeling of something touching my jaw and forcing it back in place caught my attention and I looked at Justin who was grinning knowingly at me. I coughed awkwardly and noticed that he was still smirking, but at something past me. I turned around and saw that Lila still seemed to have been frozen in place. I was about to tap her on her shoulder when Helga approached us and flicked her finger at Lila's forehead. She shook her head as if she had just come out of a trance and touched her forehead while she blushed.

"Wanna head inside?" Helga asked, oblivious to the stares she was getting and walked inside.

Once Helga had walked inside with some of the other ballet dancers and Lila, Matt made a sound akin to pouring. "What I wouldn't give to take her home right now…" he whispered as if it was supposed to be a secret.

Justin shrugged. "She's ok, I guess."

"You wouldn't know what was hot if it bit you in the ass." Matt said with a smirk and leaned closer to me. "He battles on the other team."

"Yeah, so the fact that Helga's jugs are practically coming out of her dress has no effect on me whatsoever, unlike you two." Justin snickered and walked through the door.

"Did he just say - - "

"Jugs?"

Matt and I looked at each other in slight confusion, but decided not to dwell on it and followed the others inside. The music wasn't as deafening as I had feared; Lila had been right about it being a more casual dance club. I almost sighed in relief when Matt headed towards the bar. I followed him and heard Helga talking to the bartender.

"A Cuba Libre, please." She said and looked at Lila. "What do you want, princess?"

"Oh, I-I'm not much of a drinker. It's ever too much strong for me."

"Want something sweet then?" Helga asked.

"If she doesn't want to drink, she doesn't want to drink." I said protectively and stood next to Lila who looked at me for a short moment before looking back at Helga.

"Something sweet that doesn't smell too strong? Is there such a thing?"

"Sure there is!" Helga said and hummed in thought. Then she clapped her hands together. "Piña fucking colada! Hey, bartender!"

Before Lila could say anything, Helga was already ordering for her. I tapped Lila on the shoulder and she leaned her ear closer to me. "Are you sure she's not pressuring you?" I asked.

"Oh, no. That's quite alright. If I don't like the drink, I'll simply tell her." Lila insisted and blinked at the big glass with something thick and yellow in it. "Oh, that looks pretty cute actually… and it smells sweet too!"

"It _is_ sweet. Watch out or you might get cavities." Helga joked and clinked her glass against Lila's. "Cheers."

Lila chuckled breathlessly before she sipped from the glass. I watched her intensely as her eyes lit up. "This tastes wonderful, just ever so wonderful! What's in it?" she asked Helga and drank from the straw.

"White rum, pineapple juice and coconut milk." Helga said.

Lila nodded. "I never thought I'd ever find a cocktail I actually like." She said and turned to me. "Oh, Arnold. You must try this!"

I drank from the straw and had to hold back a shiver. "That's really sweet." I said and made a small cough.

"Oh, I'm ever so sorry. It's too sweet for you, isn't it? Oh, Helga, what is it you're drinking?"

"Cuba Libre, it's dark rum and coke." Helga explained and offered me the glass. I made a small sigh, expecting it to taste absolutely horrible, but once it hit my taste buds, it felt like they were singing. Helga smirked knowingly at me. "It's good right after a sugary drink like that, eh? Bartender, another Cuba Libre."

"Careful, little lady." The bartender said with a smirk as he poured some rum into another glass. "Don't get ahead of yourself."

"This one's for the Football Head over there." Helga said as she cocked her head towards me. Then she leaned closer to the bartender and smirked at him. "And I can handle more than two drinks, believe me." she said. The bartender smiled dirtily at her before he continued with the drink. Helga frowned in confusion and looked accusingly at Matt. "I think the dress you bought me is doing weird shit to me."

"It's called a shot of confidence, love." Justin said jokingly and put his arm over Helga who just snickered.

I leaned closer to Matt and whispered in his ear. " _You_ bought her that dress?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Matt asked behind his hand and snorted.

I couldn't argue against that so I just shrugged in surrender. Noticing that Helga was now drinking from her new glass, I continued with the one she had handed me earlier. It really did taste good. Once again I had something in common with her that I didn't with Lila. It bothered me much more than it should.

"Oh, Helga!" Matt said so suddenly that I clenched my glass in surprise. "Listen!"

Helga listened to the music for a moment and then gasped. "No!" she declared resolutely and jumped away from the bar.

"Oh, come on!" Matt said with a big grin and followed her.

"No, Matt! We danced to that a million years ago and it was embarrassing enough back then!" Helga said in a bit of panic, but she was laughing as she did so. She went behind my back and I tried looking at her over my shoulder as she hid behind me.

"What's with this song?" I asked and recognized the song as a _Maroon 5_ song _._ I believe it was called _Maps_ or something like that.

"Helga and I have taken other dance lessons besides ballet through the years." Matt explained as he walked around me, but Helga did the same so he still couldn't catch her. "And we danced to this one together at one of the recitals."

"Yes, and I swore that was the last time I'd dance to something like that with you!" Helga insisted a little more stubbornly than before.

Matt made a small frown, but then rolled his eyes. "Please, Helga! It's destiny!" he insisted jokingly, grabbed her and pulled her out on the dance floor. She groaned loudly, but she let him lead her around in a well-coordinated dance and it made me do a mental backflip. I had seen them dance before and knew how much in synch they were, but it felt like it was the first time I saw them dancing.

"I just get ever so surprised each time." Lila said somewhat quietly to me. "It's like… Matt and Helga were meant to be dancing together."

Lila's words bothered me and I believe I actually started glaring at Matt and Helga as they danced. "Matt called it destiny just now." I huffed.

"You don't believe in destiny, Arnold?" Lila asked mostly curiously.

I chuckled. "If I believed in destiny, I'd think more about the fact that Helga and I have known each other since we were babies." I said jokingly.

"What?" Lila said in confusion and turned to look at me properly. "Why have you not told me that?"

"Oh, I only found out recently. Remember when Olga and Nika came to pick Helga up?" I asked and she nodded. "Helga came by Sunset Arms the day before, she said hello to my grandpa and he told us we used to play together as toddlers. We didn't even know until he said so."

Lila started frowning and looked towards Matt and Helga again. "Oh, I… see…" she said quietly and kept looking away from me.

I observed her for a bit before a thought stroke my thoughts. _No way, that's just me being too optimistic_. I thought, stubbornly continuing to think like that or a bit before I looked at Lila again. "Are you… jealous?"

Lila's green eyes got big in shock and she stared at me in a panic. "N-No, why ever would I be jealous?!" she asked almost as if she was afraid. Then she looked at me for a bit and seemed to calm down. "I-I'm sorry… I guess it's rather childish of me to… feel this way… just because you played together as kids."

"No, no!" I insisted with a big smile on my face. "It's totally fine! It actually kinda makes sense, I-I mean, I would probably feel the same way honestly."

"Really?"

"Really!" I maintained. Lila giggled sweetly at my insistence and it seemed like her mood was much better already. I felt like shouting to the sky in happiness; Lila had actually been jealous. That was such a big step forward. _I can't wait to rub it in Helga's face_ , I thought, but immediately frowned. _Wait. Where did that mean thought come from? Just because Helga thinks Lila will break my heart, it doesn't give me the right to be so gleeful. How did a moment with Lila become all about Helga again? What's happening to me?_

"I hope you all saw that because I am _not_ doing it again." Helga said as she walked back to the bar, clearly a little tired from her dance with Matt. She sat down next to Lila and chugged down her entire glass. "Why are you two not dancing?"

"Oh, I-I'm not much of a dancer." Lila insisted shyly.

"You don't drink, don't dance, what do you do?" Helga asked playfully and then patted Lila's shoulder. "Just teasing. You want another piña colada?"

"Oh, yes, please." Lila answered. I hadn't even noticed that she had already finished it. I looked down at my own glass and chugged the entire thing down. Somehow, even though I usually didn't drink all that much, I felt the need for that rush of adrenaline alcohol provided. I ordered another Cuba Libre and noticed Lila smiling at me. "Arnold, you can dance, right? I remember back in fourth grade when you and the boys had a dancing competition that you won by a landslide."

"Really?" Helga asked in obvious shock which upset me. "And what exactly did you dance?"

"Oh, I believe they were doing mostly Latin American dancing. It was just a casual and fun activity at the party, but Arnold was ever so amazing at it." Lila said excitedly. I almost felt shy from all the praise.

"How did you learn to dance Latin American of all things?" Helga asked and drank from her new glass.

"My grandma, actually." I said and fidgeted with my glass. "I have no idea why she knows how to dance though."

Helga chuckled. "That woman knows some weird things."

"You know how to dance Latin American too, don't you, Helga?" Justin asked, suddenly appearing what seemed out of nowhere.

"Really?" I asked in surprise, but not with as much as Helga had. I already knew she was multitalented after all.

"Yeah," Helga answered with a shrug. "tango, samba, cha-cha-cha… all those."

"So, I assume that Matt knows them too?" I asked.

"Hell no!" Matt declared loudly. "Latin American dancing is _not_ my thing."

"You're only saying that because you can't shake your hips if your life depended on it." Helga teased.

"It feels awkward."

"I think it's sexy as hell." Helga declared and drank from her glass and for some reason, it looked incredibly sensual to me all of a sudden.

"I agree, if it's _you_ dancing." Matt said with a smile. Helga smiled as she put her glass down and then stuck her tongue out at Matt who just snickered at her childish action. He listened to the music for a bit. "Speaking of the devil, isn't that _Enrique Iglesias_?"

Helga and I listened to the song for about two seconds. " _Bailando_!" we both declared loudly and looked at each other in surprise. We chuckled for a moment before the others started pushing at us.

"Go dance!" Justin insisted along with some of the other ballerinas.

"W-What?" I mumbled in surprise and looked at Helga who didn't seem completely aboard with the idea either.

"Oh, come on! I just came back to the bar!" she complained, but we were pushed to the floor despite our protests. She looked at me somehow awkwardly, but mostly she just seemed reluctant. Then out of nowhere, she started smirking. "You know," she said thoughtfully. "I don't think I believe that you know how to dance at all."

I frowned. "And why is that?"

"I don't know. You just don't seem like you have a single rhythmic bone in that lanky body of yours." Helga claimed superiorly. "Also, the last time we danced, you were just frozen in place."

"That's because I don't know how to hiphop." I swore. I wasn't sure if the alcohol suddenly hit my sense of reason or if Helga had just pushed the right button, but I saw my hand lift towards her. "Let me prove you wrong."

Helga looked at my hand curiously and I could see that I had been twisted around her fingers once again. She hummed artificially as if she wasn't sure she wanted to bother trying, but then I grabbed her hand and pulled her close to me. Without even missing a single step, her chest touched mine and she smirked at me, waiting for me to try to prove her wrong as I had said I would. Letting the music control my movements, I started stepping backwards which forced her to follow me. I swung her under my arm and she felt so light in my hand as I grabbed them both, pulling us together and then pushing her back.

"Huh, maybe I _was_ wrong." Helga said curiously and continued to follow my steps.

"Told you."

"Oh, don't get cocky, Football Head." Helga said before she twirled next to me, bumping her hip against mine. "I think I still got the upper hand."

I gazed at Helga as she started clapping along to the music while stepping around me. "You think so?" I asked before swinging my arm around her hips. I took advantage of her surprise, pulled her close to me and started forcing her hips to move from side to side with mine. Her hand had landed on my chest and I took it in my own. She seemed almost nervous by my presence and that just made me all the more determined to win this little battle of ours.

I switched my right hand out with my left one and removed my arm from Helga's hips in the process. I placed my hand flat against hers and she followed me in a perfect circle, gazing at me as I led her around. I took ahold of her hand and twirled her around under my arm before stopping her when her back was turned to my chest. She stepped back and closed the space between us. She looked at me over her shoulder and I could feel her breath on my face. I could feel something almost primal awaken inside me from being so close to her, but I quickly twirled her away from me, successfully avoiding another accident like when I had kissed her in Dinoland.

"Look who's staring." Helga said once she was facing me again.

My eyes traveled towards the bar and noticed that Lila was staring intensely at us. I smirked at Helga. "Yeah, I think she's a little jealous."

"I agree." Helga said, much to my surprise.

"I told her about us playing as kids." I informed Helga as I kept dancing with her. "She seemed pretty jealous of that too."

Helga smiled as if she was trying to stay patient. "Look at her, Arnold. Which one of us is she staring at?" she asked.

I looked towards Lila again and then back at Helga. "Well, you. Because you're dancing with me." I answered.

Helga's face took on a skewed expression. "I can't figure out if you're stupid or just in denial." She hissed. I was about to ask her what she meant when she suddenly put her arms over my shoulders and pulled me closer to her. "I wonder who Lila would get angry with… if I kissed you right now."

My eyes widened at the promise in Helga's words. She kept swaying her hips as her lips moved dangerously close to mine. "Don't you dare…" my mouth warned, but my body didn't move an inch. "Helga - - "

My lips were met by Helga's in what could only be described as pure bliss. So many sensations ran through me at once; my heart jumping into my throat only to fall to my stomach and then end back in the ribcage. My skin growing inappropriately hot. My hands twitching from struggling against the strong desire to pull her even closer to me. It wasn't until those lips were pulled away from me that I came back to the earth.

"What are you doing?!" Matt asked Helga angrily and walked between us. Helga was gawking at him in shock. "How can you do this to me?"

I looked between them for a moment before I gasped. "You _are_ dating!" I declared in realization. I couldn't believe it; Helga had played me again. She had lied to my face, kissed me like she meant it, all the while being someone else's girlfriend. And I had let it happen, I wasn't any better myself. I looked towards the bar and saw Lila's running out of the club as fast as she could. "Lila!"

I begged Lila to wait as I ran through the crowd of people. I could hear Helga start yelling at Matt, but I didn't care what she was saying to him. All I cared about was getting to Lila and explaining myself before it was too late. Luckily, she had stopped out on the street and I caught up with her quickly. When I took her hand, she pulled it out of my grasp and then turned to look at me. Her hazel eyes were brimming with tears and it felt like an arrow had just hit my heart.

"L-Lila, listen to me." I begged as she wiped her tears away. "I-I didn't mean to. Helga, she surprised me, she did it on her own, I swear!"

It didn't seem like my words consoled Lila at all, quite the contrary. "I-It's fine, Arnold…" she said though and sniffed. "I-I am not angry with you, not at all. I-I could see that it was all Helga."

"You could?" I asked hopefully.

Lila nodded and forced a smile on her tear-stained face. "I have eyes in my head, Arnold." she said in a quivering voice. "I-It just took me by surprise to… actually see it. I'm ever so sorry. I'm really not angry with you at all, I promise."

I wanted to sigh in relief, but somehow the sound got stuck in my throat. The lump in my throat was still there as if something was wrong, but Lila just said that she wasn't angry with me. What could possibly be wrong then? I was about to ask her if she was sure when I noticed her looking at something behind me. She made a pained expression, but there was also some anger in there. I was about to turn around to see what she was looking at, but then she grabbed me by my collar. Lila pulled me close to her and pressed her lips against mine. My eyes stayed open in shock and I stared at her clenched eyelids until she let me go.

"I-I'll go home though, ok?" Lila said quietly and then jogged away.

I stared at her in surprise until I heard the unmistakable clatter of a person approaching me. I looked to my side and saw a pair of familiar, blue eyes looking at me. "Damn Matt…" Helga muttered and crossed her arms. "He interfered at the most crucial moment."

"You are unbelievable!" I stated and stepped away from her. "I can't believe that you'd do that in front of _my_ girlfriend and _your_ boyfriend!"

"We're not dating!"

"Oh, please! You know, I never really believed that there was nothing between you, but his reaction proved that I was right! What's wrong with you?!"

"You listen to me, bucko!" Helga shouted angrily. "Matt and I are _not_ dating and if you'd just open your fucking eyes and see what I've been trying to show you ever since we met then this wouldn't have happened!"

"What am I supposed to see?!"

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Helga shouted at the top of her lungs and grabbed my collar. "Lila is gay!" she screamed in my head. It was if the Earth stopped turning when I heard those words. Helga was breathing slowly and deeply, obviously trying to calm herself. She pushed me away from her as if I was dirt and kept glaring at me. "Everyone knows it, except you! I know it, Matt knows it, Justin knows it. Hell, those pigeons over there know it!"

I looked in the direction Helga was pointing and saw a couple of pigeons cooing. Then I looked back at her. "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard." I declared. "No one has ever said anything about the possibility of Lila being gay."

"Let's be honest, she hangs more out with her ballet team than her classmates so that's no surprise."

"There's no way Lila's gay. She's so feminine!"

"That's called a lipstick lesbian, Arnold!" Helga said and smacked the back of my head. "Just because Lila doesn't fit your stereotypical way of what a lesbian is supposed to look like, it doesn't mean that she doesn't like girls."

"I didn't mean to - - " I said, but then shook my head. "If she's gay, why is she dating me?!"

"Damned if I know! Probably for the same reason you're dating _her_." Helga answered and I quirked an eyebrow at her. "You're safe. You're too sweet of a guy to push her into things she doesn't want to do. I don't think she means to use you as a cover, but she's probably scared of coming out. I mean, look at what almost happened to Eugene! And to makes matters worse, Lila does have the reputation of being Little Miss Perfect. Homophobia hasn't become part of history yet after all."

I sighed loudly and grabbed my hair. "This is insane. There is no way Lila's lesbian. She's not the type of girl to hide herself from the world and she's not dishonest!"

"Those are the words of a man in denial." Helga said. I was about to argue against her, but she put her hand up. "I am _done_ for tonight. Go home and think about what I've said, Arnold. Goodnight."

With those words, Helga turned her back to me and started walking down the street. Her form had long disappeared from my sight when I finally turned around and headed home with my head filled with so many thoughts that I couldn't comprehend even one of them.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: I was kinda sad to see how many people had actually guesses that Lila was lesbian xD But I didn't want to suddenly change the plot just because I felt the need to shock people rather than give them what they assumed. Lila was supposed to be gay all the way so that's that! How many of you are surprised? Hah xD**


	8. Yours is familiar

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Boring"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **When I went to pick up Lila after her ballet lesson as usual, she asked me to go with her and the others out dancing that night. Not knowing what I was going into, I went along with it. I told Lila what I had recently found out about my past with Helga, I was clear jealousy in her eyes. When I told Helga about it, she surprisingly agreed with me, but something told me she wasn't fully agreeing with me. When Helga and I went dancing, she decided to kiss me to somehow prove to me that Lila would get angry with her and not with me, but I stormed after Lila before she could prove anything.**_

 _ **Lila wasn't angry with me like Helga had said, but Lila kissed me for the first time just before she left when Helga got out. Helga told me that she was sure Lila was gay after that and sent me home with a splitting headache and too many questions.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: So, this one took a little longer than I imagined, but frankly that's mostly because I've been completely involved with my editing the last week. I've started a new project with two characters I have never used before so it's maskings galore at the moment. If you're subscribed to my on YouTube, you'll probably be able to see this new video soon ;D (It's not a Hey Arnold! video sorry, or else it wouldn't be two "never used" characters. Ha xD)**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 8: "Yours is familiar"

"Arnold… Arnold… Hey, Arnold!"

"What?!" I gasped and looked around me. I was sitting at Slausen's with Gerald, Sid, Stinky and Harold and they were all staring at me. "Oh, I'm sorry. I… I've got a lot on my mind."

 _A lot on my mind_ was a major understatement. I hadn't slept all night because I was thinking about what Helga told me. Or rather what she was claiming. _"Lila is gay! Everyone knows it, except you! I know it, Matt knows it, Justin knows it. Hell, those pigeons over there know it!"_ That particular sentence kept repeating in my mind and it just wouldn't go out. If what Helga was saying was true, how was it possible I wouldn't notice after knowing Lila for so many years? And how come no one else had said anything if it was that obvious?

"Uh, guys. Can I ask you something kinda weird?" I asked while staring at the table. I couldn't bring myself to look at them.

"You kinda already did." Sid stated and I sighed. "Alright. Fine, fine. What's up?"

"Um… have any of you ever considered… the possibility that Lila would be… gay?" I asked slowly, almost muttering the words. A part of me definitely didn't want to ask them this, but I needed to get it out of my system. I expected them to answer me immediately, but they were all eerily quiet. I looked up to see if they had even heard me, but they clearly had. They were all staring at me with equal horror or shock in their eyes. Then they went into a fit of laughter.

"Lila as gay! Yeah, that's a good one, Arnold!" Sid said with tears brimming in his eyes because of his laughter.

"Oh man! Just try imagining her with some hardcore lesbian, out playing golf!" Harold agreed, almost choking on his own laughter.

"Yeah, man! Where the hell did that come from?" Gerald asked and forced himself to calm down even though he kept chuckling for a while.

I couldn't help but chuckle myself; it was a rather silly thought after all. "Actually… Helga said Lila might be gay or… actually, she seemed pretty sure of it."

"Helga?" Gerald asked in surprise. "What would she know about Lila's sexuality?"

"Lila _does_ hang out more with other dancers than she does with her classmates. That was one of Helga's arguments at least. That, and she claimed everyone else was sure that Lila was gay too." I explained and that was probably what bothered me the most. It was one thing for Helga to claim it, she clearly didn't want me to be with Lila for one reason or another, but that she said that Matt and Justin agreed with her made me wonder if she could be right.

Sid frowned thoughtfully. "But if Lila's gay, why would she date you?"

"Arnold _is_ pretty girly." Harold joked and snickered.

I rolled my eyes at the comment. "That's also kinda what Helga said when I asked the same thing… or rather, she said I was a safe choice because I wouldn't push Lila too much."

"I guess that's true." Gerald agreed with a nod. "But did you ask Helga why she thought Lila was gay? I mean, is it just a feeling or has she actually seen Lila make out with a girl?"

"I think it's a feeling." I muttered. "Helga actually thinks that Lila might have a thing for her."

"Lila crushing on Helga?!" the boys asked in pure shock.

"Helga hasn't said it explicitly, more like she's been hinting at how Lila's jealous with _me_ and not with her…" I said and that reminded me of what Lila said about Helga kissing me. How she wasn't angry with me and that she could clearly see that it was Helga kissing me. Yet she was crying so much. That worried me honestly.

"Well, unless Lila says it herself no one really knows for sure, right?" Gerald asked and that made me look at him, but I looked at Sid when he agreed.

"Yeah, maybe Helga's just being arrogant. Or maybe _she's_ the gay one."

"Absolutely not!" I insisted and shook my head at the mere thought, but the boys looked questioningly at me. "Helga cant' be gay, we've kissed too many times for her to be - - "

"You _what_?!" the boys bellowed in shock, including Gerald. I suddenly remembered that I had only told him about the first kiss, not the following ones. With a sigh, I explained it to them all. Helga's surprising kiss at the hospital where she said she didn't know why she had done it, including the kisses we had shared at Dinoland and lastly the one from last night at the club. The boys were staring at me with interest sparkling in their eyes all through my story.

"Whoa…" Harold muttered. "For such a boring guy, you sure get a lot of action."

"I can't believe you're cheating on Miss Lila!" Stinky said with pure confusion in his voice.

My eyes narrowed at their comments. "I'm not cheating on Lila! I… I don't mean to at least. But let's get back to what we were talking about; do you think Lila might actually be gay?"

"I wouldn't trust Helga's words on this." Gerald said and leaned his chin on his hand. "I mean, it sounds like she might actually be fancying you because of all those kisses. She might only be saying Lila's gay to make you to give up on her."

The possibility of Helga having feelings for me sent a sensation through me that I hadn't seen coming. I could feel my heart picking up its pace and in my stomach churned. I had to blink to get some blur away from my eyes, blurs I didn't know where came from. I grabbed my cup and nodded absentmindedly. The boys were right; no matter what anyone else said, it was important not to let rumors get to you. I wouldn't let anyone else tell me something about Lila she hadn't confirmed herself. I wasn't the kind of person to do that after all.

* * *

When I reached Les Cygnes Gracieux, I noticed that Helga was missing. I looked around in confusion and considered asking Matt if she was at Ernie's pool hall again, but Lila came sashaying towards me. I shook my head in confusion when I saw how she was dressed. It wasn't the usual leotard, but a full-on ballet outfit. Her hair was tied up on the usual bun, but her ears and cheeks were covered in what looked like some white and very fluffy fabric. Her uppers arms were covered with a pair of white puffed sleeves, but they didn't seem to be connected to the actual dress. The dress itself looked like a typical ballet dress with pink tulle under the skirt and was cut very sharply into a V on her chest. Her legs were covered in white stockings and her feet in pink ballet shoes. When she twirled in front of me, I noticed a pair of see-through wings on her lower back.

Lila giggled. "How do I look?" she asked and went into what I could recognize as fourth position.

I sighed in relief; Lila was the same as always despite what had happened last night. "You look really pretty." I answered earnestly. "Are you already trying on the costumes?"

"Yes, it's to make sure that they fit perfectly." Lila answered and gestured to Matt and Justin. "The boys don't seem to need any readjustments though."

I looked at the two guys, noticing the clear difference in their clothes. Justin, who played the prince Mytho, was dressed in something very elegant. He had what looked like a purple shirt on him with huge puffed sleeves decorated in golden strings across his chest, around the sleeves and down the hem of the shirt which went out around his hips. His legs were covered in white leggings and his ballet shoes were a light shade of purple. Matt, who was playing Fakir, on the other hand was more simply dressed. Dark blue leggings, black ballet shoes and what looked like a blue dress shirt that was unbuttoned, but tied around his waist and wrapped up his arms.

"I must say Justin looks quite… fabulous." I joked and Lila giggled. "Where's Helga though?"

"Oh, she is still in the dressing room. She's taking her oh-so sweet time." Lila said and I could see a small blush on her cheeks. "I can't blame her… Her outfit is rather… interesting."

"What kind of interesting?" I asked, but I already had a feeling what Lila I meant.

"This better be worth it, Mademoiselle Pavlova." Helga's voice said behind me as if she had heard us just before and decided to make a well-timed entrance. I turned around, trying to brace myself as I did so, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. Helga was dressed all in black, her hair tied into a bun with a black feather sticking out from it. Her arms and shoulders were completely bare and the dress barely covered her torso properly. The dress was cut in two bows on her breasts, but went down almost all the way to her stomach so that it was only what was necessary that was covered. The dress then went out as a ballet dress should and ended in black tulle which was cut so it looked like feathers around her legs. Her legs were clad in black stockings and black ballerina shoes.

"Oh, Helga. You look stunning, just ever so much!" Lila bellowed in complete awe.

"Thanks, Lila, but I feel rather slutty in this honestly." Helga admitted and looked down at herself. "Oh, well, it's easy to move around in this at least."

I was too shocked to say anything. It wasn't until Helga looked at me that I came back to the planet earth. "I-Is that w-what you're gonna b-be wearing at the recital?" I stuttered.

"Yes, Porky Pig, this is my costume for the recital and if you don't close that mouth soon, we'll all be skating across the floor because of your drool." Helga said and forced my jaw back in place. I shook my head, desperately trying to figure out any other reason that my jaw would have decided to loose itself from its ligament covering. I didn't get a chance though before Mademoiselle Pavlova was calling their names.

Lila scooted off while Helga went to sit on the floor. I sat down next to her, wondering why I didn't sit somewhere else for a change. All things considered, Matt was angry because of that kiss, Lila might still feel upset about what happened and I… well, I still wasn't sure how I felt about anything at all.

"So," Helga said and caught my attention. "did you think more about what I told you last night?"

"Yes, I did." I answered curtly and looked at her.

"And?" she probed.

"I decided I won't believe anything about Lila that she hasn't told me herself." I answered and looked back at the other dancers.

It took a while, but I finally heard Helga respond. "That's an admirable quality." She said and I looked at her in shock, but she seemed genuine. "I mean, not to believe things about others if they haven't confirmed it themselves."

"… Thank you." I said in bewilderment. I hadn't expected that at all.

"Unfortunately, right now you just sound like a sore loser." Helga said and I groaned. _That_ I had expected. "Of course Lila's not gonna admit it just because you think she should. She's technically been deceiving you and I'm guessing she feels horrible about it, which she should."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that you need to confront her about it. You can't expect her to come out of the closet on her own. She needs support, and right now you're the only who can really give it to her."

"Oh, yeah? If you're so sure that you're right about this, how come _you_ don't confront her about it?" I asked, trying to keep my temper down so we didn't bother the other dancers, but I could feel my blood boiling already. Helga had that effect on me.

"Um, Arnold. That might sent the wrong signal coming from _me_ ". Helga said in annoyance as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh, right. What makes you think that Lila likes you that way anyway?"

"Oh, I don't know." Helga said in a slanted way. "Maybe because she was ogling me just before like she did last night. Maybe because she's more worried about me than she is about you. Maybe, and just maybe, it's because when she looks at me her eyes brighten up like a puppy's does when its owner comes home."

I clenched my teeth and moved closer to Helga to make sure that she could hear me even as I spoke in a low voice. "Helga, I don't know why you insist Lila is gay, I don't know if you secretly hate her or if you're actually gay or if Gerald's right about you having a crush on me, but I will _not_ let your opinion change my mind about Lila. I've been in love with her for too long to let a _stranger_ come between us." I hissed. I knew I had gone too far and that I was way over the line. But Helga angered me in ways others had never done before and she brought out the worst in me. I didn't understand how I could get so angry with someone I didn't even remotely hate.

Helga had murder in her eyes once I was done talking. "You ungrateful asshole! How dare you think that - - "

"Helga!" Mademoiselle Pavlova called suddenly. We both looked at her. "We need to practice your fouettes, darling."

Helga gave me one last hateful stare, but she stood up and practically stomped towards Pavlova. I crossed my arms childishly, watching her talk to Pavlova who was clearly asking her if she was ok. Helga dismissed her teacher's worry though and got into position. I noticed Matt heading towards me and prayed that he wasn't going to yell at me like Helga just had.

"Uh, what were you two talking about since Helga looks so pissed?" he asked as he looked down at me, making no movement to sit down.

"Just… nothing." I insisted.

"Doesn't look like nothing." Matt observed and looked worriedly at Helga who had just started spinning around herself, occasionally stretching one of her legs to get more power to her twirls. "She's not focused on what she's doing. This could end badly."

"What do you mean?" I asked, genuinely worried because of his words.

"A fouette is hard enough if you're completely focused. Helga could break her ankle if she makes one wrong step." Matt said without taking his eyes off Helga. I looked at her as well and stood up though I wasn't sure why I had done that. Somehow, I just couldn't sit still.

The tension was rising as Mademoiselle Pavlova kept counting the fouettes Helga was doing. Then the thing, I had hoped wouldn't happen, happened. As Helga put her leg down again in an attempt at raising it and putting more speed on her legs, her foot got caught against her calve. She fell backwards with a shout, landing on her right ankle. Her left hand had cushioned her landing, but that meant it might be just as hurt. Helga's name was said in different voices and everyone stormed towards her, including myself.

"Fuck…" I could see Helga hiss as her shoulders shivered. She had her palm firmly planted on her ankle, but she didn't move it away from under her. It was like she was scared what she'd feel if she moved it even though it was probably painful to be sitting on it.

"Helga, can you stand?" Mademoiselle Pavlova asked with her usual indifferent voice, but there was a hint of concern in there.

Helga was good at hiding it, but I noticed her gulping as she slowly twisted her leg from under her, careful not to touch her ankle as she did so. She planted her left foot solidly on the floor and stood up on it. She tried putting her left hand on the floor as well, but hissed almost instantly and switched hand and tried steadying herself on that instead. As soon as her right foot touched the ground, a shot of pain seemed to go through her and she stumbled backwards. I caught her in my arms, but she just groaned in annoyance and tried to get away from me.

"Oh, no. What about the recital now?" Justin asked worriedly.

"I'm fine!" Helga insisted though I wasn't sure why. I thought she didn't care about the recital, that she wanted to get out of the ballet world once and for all. But she clearly cared about not being hurt for some reason. She put her hand on my arm and used me to steady herself. She got herself standing up, but one again when she tried to put some weight on her right foot, she shrieked in pain and stumbled back into my embrace.

"You have to get to the hospital." I told her worriedly.

Helga glared at me over her shoulder. "I'm not going to a fucking hospital." She said to me, almost threateningly. I stared at her for a bit before my eyebrows furrowed in determination. I swung my arm under Helga's legs and scooped her into my arms which elicited a shout of horror from her. "What do you think you're doing, Football Head?! Put me down right now!"

"No! You need to go to the hospital and you obviously can't go there by yourself!" I said, but she kept fighting against me. She shouted something about how she didn't need my help, but I growled at her. "Shut up!"

The raise in my voice caught Helga by surprise and she went quiet. I glared at her for about a second before turning around to declare that I'd text Lila once I knew more about Helga's condition and then walked out of the dance studio. Helga was quiet as I carried her outside to my grandpa's Packard. I put her inside gently, closed the door behind me and went to the seat next to hers. She refused to look at me, but she put her seatbelt in place without me asking. With a sigh, I started the engine and headed for the hospital.

* * *

"As long as you give your ankle a bit of rest the next week or so, you should be able to dance again in no time." The doctor reassured us once more.

I sighed in relief while Helga simply huffed. "Told you there was no reason for all that fuss." She said and wiggled her bandaged ankle, but cringed at the feeling and stopped immediately.

"Better safe than sorry." I countered and thanked the doctor before he nodded and walked out the door. I looked at Helga, internally snickering at the way she looked; her right ankle and left wrist bandaged, but still wearing that black costume. She looked like a hurt crow. I offered my hand to help her up, but she refused it. "Oh, come on, Helga…"

"What? You expect me to let you help me _twice_ in one day? Nu-uh, not happening, Football Head." She argued and was about step out of the bed, but the door opening caught her ears. She looked up and so did I. "Matt?"

We both looked at him with a bit of surprise in our eyes. "Uh… Lila's still waiting for that text from you so I got worried." Matt said as if that explained why he had showed up.

"Oh, right!" I said and pulled my phone out.

"Uh, Arnold… Could I talk to Helga alone for a while?" Matt asked somewhat sheepishly.

"Uh…" I mumbled and looked at Helga. I briefly wondered why I had done that, before I nodded and walked outside. I didn't bother to close the door behind me so it was still a bit agape as I texted Lila who had sent me about three worried texts herself. Once I had finished writing and my focus was at nothing in particular, I couldn't help but listen to the voices in the room behind me.

"You haven't really said anything about what I told you." Matt said and the sound of creaking told me he had sat down on the bed Helga was in.

"Yeah, I figured that was answer enough honestly." Helga replied. I could hear Matt sighed. "Oh, come on, Matt! You… You didn't tell me anything I didn't know already and you already knew my answer."

"No! No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did! You were just hoping I'd change my mind!"

"Can you blame me?" Matt asked and hissed. "Why is he so much better?"

"This isn't about _him_ , you idiot! You could have told me this three months ago and it still wouldn't have changed my mind." Helga responded.

 _Three months ago?_ I repeated in my head. _I think I met Helga three months ago actually… Whoa, time really does fly_.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Matt asked sullenly.

"No, it's supposed to make you realize that… that I just don't feel that way about you, Matt. I'm sorry. I wish it wasn't like that, but it is. I don't know what else to tell you." Helga said almost with sympathy in her voice, but there was still a hint of impatience in it as well.

 _So they really aren't dating…_ I thought in relief though I would never admit that to myself. _But Matt definitely has feelings for Helga and she knows. I guess that's why he got angry with her when she kissed me last night_.

"I just don't understand why. We've known each other since we were kids! Wha-What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you!" Helga responded. "I don't know, maybe it is _because_ we've known each other since we were kids… No, that can't be it, not really."

"Then what?"

I could hear Helga make a long sigh. "Look… remember when you told me that… it was destiny? That we played as children and then met again at our first ballet lesson? And that I laughed?"

"Yes?" Matt probed, but I could hear a bit of annoyance in his voice.

"Well… I found out recently that apparently, Arnold and I played together when we were kids too. None of us remembers it of course, we were still toddlers, but his grandpa told us when I met him… And I asked Olga about it a couple of days ago and she remembered it so clearly. She told me that Arnold and I always had so much fun playing with each other and we were actually pretty cliquey. We didn't want anyone else to join us." Helga explained and chuckled at the memory.

 _Grandpa never mentioned that_. I thought and had to hold back a chuckle of my own.

"And when Olga moved, I never saw Arnold again. Well, until recently of course… Olga told me that I called her every day, begging her to come home just so she could take me to that playground. When she had to explain to me that she couldn't just come home because she was too far away… I stopped calling her. Olga said that was when I started distancing myself from her. I guess I was really angry. That's probably the most childish thing I've ever done, I think." Helga said and snickered in a self-demeaning away. "Matt, if you really believe in destiny then what do you make of that?"

"Nothing." Matt insisted stubbornly, but I could hear how much it hurt him to hear that I, like him, had met Helga when we were kids and then met again later. It certainly made him meeting her again seem less miraculous.

"Well, then _our_ meet cute isn't destiny either." Helga declared and I could hear that was what she wanted him to admit.

"Ok, so it's not destiny then! Forget that; I was joking anyway! I still have feelings for you, Helga, and if you would just give me a chance I - - "

"Give you a chance?! Hey, bucko! I've known you since we were kids, if I was gonna get feelings for you it would have happened already! What do you expect me to do?!"

"Just start dating me!"

"I _can't_ date you!"

"Why not?!"

"Because I can't imagine kissing you! Let alone anything else! The mere thought gives me the creeps, you'd might as well ask me to kiss Olga!" Helga shouted impatiently.

 _Ouch_. I thought. As much as I felt happy that Helga didn't actually have any feelings towards Matt, I also felt really bad for him. I knew how it felt to be in the friend zone after all even though I had technically gotten out of it with Lila. The sound of Helga gasping caught my ears though and I started listening again.

"Get off me, Matt!" Helga shouted angrily, but not in fear. I reached for the door in eruption, but the sound of Matt groaning caught my ears. "It's easy to push me down when only half of me is working, huh?"

With a deep scowl, I walked into the room and gawked at what I saw. Matt was lying on the floor, holding his swollen cheek and Helga was glaring at him from the bed she was sitting on. She had clearly slapped him before pushing him down and her legs were dangling from her bed. She looked up and noticed me. We gazed at each other for a bit before she sighed and looked away.

"Get out." Helga hissed.

"I-I'm sorry." I said and reached for the door.

"Not _you_!" Helga said and then looked at Matt who looked unbelievably hurt at her command. He stood up from the floor and seemed about to apologize, but Helga slapped his hand away from her. Matt was biting on his lip as he jogged past me and out of the room. The force of him closing the door caused it to bang against the doorframe and I flinched at the sound. I looked at Helga questioningly and she was obviously seething with anger. "Stubborn bastard."

"Are you ok?" I asked, remembering what she had said earlier about Matt pushing her down.

"What do you think?!" Helga asked angrily and glared at me for about a second before trying to lift herself back to the bed. She hissed in pain though and I ran towards her to help her. She was scowling at me, but didn't push me away as I helped her sit back in the bed properly. "I can't believe him… I guess now I understand why you were so pissed when I kissed you back then."

"He kissed you?" I asked with my eyes almost popping out of my head.

"It lasted like one second before I pushed him away, but yes." Helga said and looked at her bandaged wrist. "When I pushed him away though, my hand started hurting and he… took advantage of that."

I sat down on the chair next to the bed. "I already asked you, but… are you ok?"

Helga sighed. "I guess… I mean, he's always been temperamental, just like me so I guess it's not that big a surprise that he'd try a stunt like that. He probably didn't mean it." she insisted and groaned. "Everything's so fucked."

"I wish there was something I could do." I said honestly.

"You could start believing what I said about Lila." Helga said and tilted her head to the side, flashing her eyelashes. I shot her a slanted look and she snapped with her right hand, the healthy one. "Damn, almost had you."

I snickered. "It's good that you can joke in this situation." I said. "But seriously… _is_ there something I can do for you?"

Helga hummed thoughtfully, closed her eyes and leaned back against the pillow on the bed. She looked oddly enticing like that. "You can kiss my boo-boo." She said with way too much seriousness in her voice. I turned to stare at her, and I'm pretty sure that the color my face became could have made a tomato jealous. Helga promptly started laughing at my facial expression. "Criminy, you should see yourself! I'm joking, Football Head!"

Helga kept laughing and I frowned in annoyance. She had tricked me again. I gazed at her right wrist, which was shaking on her arm as she laughed. I grabbed it gently and I felt her looking at me as I kissed her wrist. Her hand froze in mine and I looked up at her shyly. The sight of her pink cheeks made me smirk though. It proved that I could embarrass her as well.

"That's… really cheesy." Helga mumbled, but didn't pull her hand away until I let go of it. She placed it on her lap and I saw her eyebrows lift curiously. I looked towards her other bandage, the one around her ankle. I quickly bent down to kiss it playfully and I could hear her snicker as I did so. "That tickles!"

I laughed, hoping the sound would make a nice cover for my embarrassment. "You had two boo-boos, that's not my fault."

"I guess not." Helga agreed and the shaking of her shoulders ceased.

"Would you like me to take you home?" I offered.

"Sure, since my own car is at Les Cygnes Gracieux." Helga answered and twisted herself on the bed to get out. I helped her standing up and was about to wrap my arm around her waist to support her, but she snuck her arm around mine before I could. "I think this will be fine."

"Uh, sure." I said, wondering why my heart was racing. How come the action of my arm wrapped around hers seemed more worthy of a rapid heartbeat than my arm around her waist? Perhaps it was because this position felt like I was escorting her somehow rather than helping her walk. Maybe that was also why she had suggested it; she didn't like being helped after all.

* * *

Helga and I were quiet on the way home in the Packard, much like on the ride to the hospital. It wasn't an awkward silence this time though, we were simply listening to music instead. I noticed that she was bopping her head from time to time and was humming along to the songs. It made me smile; she looked undeniably cute like that. I almost felt sad once we reached her house. After turning off the engine and securing the car, I jumped out of my seat to help Helga out. She gave me a bit of a disapproving look when I offered her my arm again, but after rolling her eyes, she accepted it.

When I had walked Helga up the stoop to her house and she had unlocked the door, I decided to do something that might blow up in my face later. "Helga, can I give you my phone number?"

Helga flinched at the question and turned to stare at me. "Why?" she asked in confusion, but a smile spread on her face.

"I-It's just so, you know… that you can text me if you need something. I kinda feel responsible for what's happened to you." I excused and hoped she wouldn't think too much of it. It was true that I felt guilty, but that wasn't why I was offering my help to her.

Helga eyed me curiously before grabbing her phone and giving it to me. She was gazing at me as I entered my number on her phone. When I gave it back to her, I noticed her curious stare. I was about to ask her if something was wrong, when she suddenly put her healthy hand on my shoulder and leaned in to kiss me. I stared at her eyelids for about a second before I felt my eyes close on their own. I pushed my lips closer against hers and felt a sigh escape through my nose when she leaned back again.

"What… was that?" I asked quietly, unsure what else to say after a kiss like that.

Helga shrugged innocently. "To thank you and… to get Matt's taste off me." she said casually and pushed her door open.

"You prefer my taste?" I asked with a nervous chuckle.

"Hey, yours is familiar." Helga said with a naughty, lop-sided grin and went inside her house.

I stared at the door for a bit and put my fingers up to my lips. She was right and that was the thing; the feeling, taste and smell of Helga's kiss was familiar at this point. I could even imagine it without much trouble. And that wasn't normal when you were dating someone else. I put my hands up to my head, trying to massage my sudden headache away. Helga was right; everything was so messed up.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: Like I mentioned in the first chapter, "Princess Tutu" the ballet there is to be performed is inspired by an anime. If you want to see the outfits, all you have to do is search "Princess Tutu" and then the name of their character. Helga is Kraehe, Matt is Fakir and Justin is Mytho. Of course, Mytho and Fakir change outfit from time to time, but the pictures I used for reference are some of the first ones you'll see ;D**


	9. No turning back

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Boring"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **I kept thinking about what Helga had told me about Lila so I decided to consult the other boys who agreed not to believe in anyone else than Lila. That was also what I told Helga when I met her at Les Cygnes Gracieux which made her angry. Her anger resulted in her hurting herself and I took her to the hospital.**_

 _ **Helga wasn't badly hurt which was probably why I forgot to text Lila and tell them all about her condition. Matt showed up and I couldn't help but eavesdrop as he asked her why she didn't feel anything romantic towards him. After he tried to kiss her, she kicked him out, and I helped her get home. I offered her my number so she could call me if something happened and she kissed me once again.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: I don't think I have much to say for the first author's note, but prefer yourself for the second one xD**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 9: "No turning back"

I was yawning a bit as I finished my breakfast and then carried the plates out to the kitchen. As soon as I had put it all in the dishwasher, I felt my pocket vibrate against my thigh. I gasped in surprise, feeling myself wake up along with the vibration. I picked up at and saw that it wasn't a number I recognized. Then I remembered who had recently gotten my number and answer it.

"H-Hello?"

"Good morning, Football Head." Helga's voice greeted my ear and I couldn't help but feel kind of awkward having her call me. "Listen, remember when you asked if there was something you could do for me?"

"Y-Yes? You thought of something?"

"No, I called just to make sure that you remembered." Helga said sarcastically and I rolled my eyes, but a smile was on my face. "The thing is my car is still at Les Cygnes Gracieux and I can't really walk to school like this…"

"You want me to pick you up?" I asked and walked out of the kitchen.

"Kinda, yeah. You said it yourself right; this _is_ kind of your fault." Helga replied.

"I can be there in 5 minutes." I said as I pulled my shoes onto my feet.

"That's pretty quick. Don't overheat the engine on that old car of yours."

"It's not that old." I said offended, but she wasn't wrong as such. Grandpa's had the car for years before he gave it to me. It definitely wasn't as new or fancy as Helga's was, but I loved it. I had so many great memories in that car.

"Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a knot. I'll wait for you outside, ok?" Helga asked and hung up before I could answer. Not that I would have argued against her. I had already promised to do whatever I could for her this next week while her ankle and wrist healed, and I was going to honor that.

* * *

As promised, Helga was waiting for me when I came driving down the street. She wobbled to the car, her face cringing with every step she took. I leaned forward and pushed the car door open for her.

"A gentleman as always." Helga artificially sneered and sat beside me. She sighed in relief. "This week is going to be horrible… but I guess a break from ballet will be nice."

"What did your parents say when they saw you all bandaged up?" I asked before I started driving down the street again.

"Saw me? I don't think they've noticed." Helga answered casually and readjusted the bandage on her wrist.

I looked at her and chuckled in disbelief. "How can they not notice? Your… Your wrist is covered in white gauze and so is your ankle."

"What can I say, Arnold? They didn't notice my allergy to strawberries, I doubt they'll notice when I get hurt."

"You're allergic to strawberries?"

"Nice segue, Arnold." Helga said with a chuckle and nodded. "Yes, have been since I was a kid. Miriam kept getting those stupid strawberries and I was so hungry all the time that I ate them anyway. Even though I get hives from them."

I wasn't sure if I had the guts to ask, but I heard myself voice my question anyhow. "Hungry all the time?"

"Yeah, it's not like Miriam made me breakfast, lunch or dinner. I had to figure that out on my own. But when you're a kid, you don't know how to cook yet so I just ate whatever I could fine most of the time until I was old enough to cook."

My shoulders slumped at this information. "I… I am so sorry, Helga. I… I don't know what to say."

"Obviously." Helga said with a snicker. "I already told you; I don't want people's pity. As soon as I have enough money, I'm leaving that damned place."

"W-What about Olga though? Can't you move in with her and Nika?"

I could see that Helga was giving me a slanted look. "I'll pretend you didn't suggest that." She said and looked away. "I can't stand such long periods of time with Olga. Besides, I'd become a full-time babysitter for Nika and I'd have to change schools. Olga lives in New York."

"Yeah, you definitely can't move there then." I said with a nervous chuckle.

Helga smiled curiously at me. "You almost sounded scared for a second." She stated gleefully. "Afraid that I'll leave you alone with Lila and you will bore yourself to death?"

"Why would I be scared of you leaving?" I asked defensively.

"Oh, you're not even denying the part about Lila then?" Helga said and hummed thoughtfully. "That's progress in you getting out of your denial."

I sighed. "I'm not in denial. I just don't believe in listening to other people when it comes to _my_ relationships and whether Lila is this or that."

"This or that? Boring or gay? She's both." Helga insisted. "But I guess her being gay makes her slightly less boring somehow."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Oh, come on, let's be honest. Lesbians may only care about girls, but boys love them anyway because two girls together is hot." Helga declared matter-of-factly. I could see her smirk at me even though I kept my eyes on the road. "Just out of curiosity, did any perverted thoughts go through your mind when I suggested that Lila was gay?"

"What? No!" I insisted.

"Really?" Helga probed.

"Really! All that went through me was… confusion and anger."

"I assume the anger was towards me?"

"Well, kind of… but not really. I mean, if Lila was gay I guess I'd be angry with her."

"She _is_ gay, Arnold." Helga insisted seriously this time.

I sighed. "Convince her to tell me herself and I'll believe you." I answered and turned right towards the parking lot at the school.

"I hate you and love you at the same time." Helga declared as she looked away and I almost turned the wheel too far in surprise.

"W-What does that mean?" I asked, ignoring how my heart was beating just because of the word _love_ coming out of Helga's mouth.

"You're annoying the hell out of me because you just won't believe me, but on the other hand I envy your faith in Lila. I always wished I was good and kind like that…" Helga responded and once I had parked, I looked at her solemnly. She then smirked at me. "But I'm not so that's that."

With those words, Helga unbuckled her belt and walked out of the car. I stared at her in shock for a moment before I started laughing. I didn't know what else to do; Helga was a funny girl even if she was crude. I got out of the car myself and noticed Eugene getting out of another car.

"Look, look." Helga whispered excitedly to me once I had reached her. "That's Lorenzo's car!"

"Really?" I asked with a smile. "Do you think they - - "

"I hope so." Helga answered with a smirk that told me that she was thinking I was asking about something more inappropriate than I was.

We watched as Lorenzo got out of the car as well and approached Eugene who was smiling shyly. Lorenzo then leaned down and kissed Eugene sweetly on the mouth and I heard Helga trying to conceal a happy squeal. The sound was contagious and I had to snicker to keep my own happiness down. It was so good to see Eugene with someone who really treasured him. As if he had heard us, Eugene looked in our direction. He blushed furiously and pointed at us which caused Lorenzo to look at us as well. Helga was smirking as she wiggled her fingers in a sort of teasing way. I pushed her hand down, buts we couldn't help snickering as Lorenzo put his arm around Eugene and they approached us.

"Good morning, Helga and Arnold." Eugene said, obviously very aware of Lorenzo's arm around his waist.

"Hello, lovebirds." Helga greeted with that big grin of hers. "Let's see… you came to school together this early in the morning in Lorenzo's car… that suggests that you two had sex last night."

I nudged at Helga in shock at her bluntness, but Lorenzo just clicked his tongue at her. "Helga, you're terrible… but not wrong." He admitted. Eugene gasped before he nudged at Lorenzo himself, his face turning ten shades of red. "Oh, come on, sweety. You might as well give up when it comes to Helga; she has a flair for these things."

"What are these things?" I couldn't help but ask.

"People, actually. She's a good observer." Lorenzo explained. "And when we're on that subject, thank you, Helga, for bringing this treasure into my life."

Lorenzo kissed Eugene's head at these words and I had never seen a broader smile on Eugene's face before that. "I'm really happy for you." I said with a big smile on my own.

"Thank you, Arnold." Eugene replied and then looked at Helga. "And many thanks to you, Helga. I never thought I could be this happy."

The smile on Helga's face was unbelievably cute. "You're welcome. I'm glad I was right." She answered honestly.

"We better get going." Lorenzo said and led Eugene away who quickly waved at us before he started chatting excitedly with his boyfriend.

I crossed my arms and looked at Helga knowingly. "You _are_ a kind person." I insisted.

"Yeah, once every blue moon so don't expect any favors from me until the next one." Helga countered and tried to walk, but she hissed again. I offered her my arm, but she waved it away. "Absolutely not. Not while we're in school."

"Why not?"

"Do _you_ want to be seen holding another girl's arm when you're supposed to be dating the closet lesbian?" Helga asked. It was obvious she didn't want to tell me her own reason for not wanting my arm around hers, but I didn't want to start an argument again. Not this early in the morning.

"So what do you plan to do?" I asked somewhat tiredly.

"Just to walk next to you and only grab you if I'm about to fall. That seems innocent enough." Helga answered and took another step. I could hear her strangle a gasp as soon as her right foot made contact with the asphalt.

"Just take my arm!" I insisted and tried snaking mine around hers, but she pulled away.

"No! Absolutely not! I have a certain reputation, Arnold, I can't be seen leaning against someone else. They'll think I'm weak."

"Weak? You were hurt! People can see your bandages!"

"I don't care!" Helga hissed and I could see the clear discomfort on her face. Something told me there was a deeper issue involved here, but I didn't have time for failing at making a psychoanalysis of her.

"Ok then… you have two choices; either let me take your arm - - "

"Not gonna happen."

"Or let me take you home."

Helga gawked at me. "If you take me home now, you'll be late yourself."

"Rather that than worrying about you walking around by yourself all day." I answered and offered her my arm again. Helga gazed at it for a while before turning around and heading back towards the Packard. "You're kidding? You'd actually rather skip school than be seen with me helping you walk?" I asked in disbelief. I was hurt by her action; it felt like she was embarrassed of being seen with me.

Helga put her hands on the car and glared at me. "I _don't_ want to be seen as weak in other people's eyes. My family has looked down on me my whole life, I refuse to let others do that as well." She said and then walked towards the car door.

A psychoanalysis wasn't needed it seemed; Helga had decided to admit this feeling for me. _So, that's what this is about_ , I thought and gazed at her for a while, contemplating her words before I unlocked the door for her. She didn't look at me while she sat inside and I didn't look at her either as I closed the door and went around the car to get back inside. On the way back to her house, I kept wondering how it must feel to be so ashamed of needing help from someone. I'd wish there was something I could do for her. But anything I could do would raise this issue again.

* * *

Once we had reached Helga's house again, I wasn't in the mood for school at all. She let me help her out of the car and up to the door. She looked at me and asked me if I wanted to come inside and I agreed to my own surprise. There was just something that made me not want to go to school today. Maybe it was because I didn't want to leave Helga alone or the thought of school suddenly seemed completely unappealing. I followed her inside anyhow. It wasn't the first time I was playing hooky honestly though it didn't happen often.

We were met with the smell of alcohol though I couldn't figure out where it came from or what it was. Helga seemed to know though and walked straight to the living room. I followed her and noticed her mother lying on the sofa, a glass in her hand, her glasses askew on her face and snoring loudly. Without a word, Helga went towards the other couch and grabbed the decorative blanket on it. She put it over her mother and the woman smiled in her sleep. Helga then removed her glasses, put them on the coffee table and took the glass away from her. I followed her out the kitchen, unsure what else to do in this situation. I watched as she put the glass in the dishwasher and my eyes went towards the blender that had obviously been used very recently.

"Are you used to this?" I asked quietly, not sure whether I really wanted to ask Helga this or not.

"Is it that obvious?" Helga asked and seemed about to leave the room, but then saw the bottle of whisky on the desk. She grabbed it and then continued her way outside.

"How can you stand it?" I asked worriedly and followed her.

"Humans can get used to pretty much anything, Arnold." Helga answered as we continued towards her room. "The human mind is fascinating like that. It's how soldiers don't get posttraumatic stress syndrome until _after_ the war, it's how inmates handle the constant abuse and it's how I have survived these last 16 years on my own."

Helga kicked off her shoes and sat down on her bed with her legs crossed. Her face was contorted in pain; it was obvious that she had soldiered through the agony all this time and was relieved to sit down. I closed the door behind me and looked around her room. I wasn't sure where to sit before she patted her bed. I went over there and sat down next to her once I had thrown my shoes off just like she had. She took a big chug from the bottle and then offered it to me. I considered declaring, but I took the bottle anyhow. I took a sip from it and choked on it immediately.

"If you hate whisky that much, why did you take it?" Helga asked in a snicker and took the bottle again.

"I-I don't know…" I admitted and wiped whisky away from my mouth. "I just… I don't know what I can do for you, Helga, and you won't tell me and you don't want my help and I… I don't know what to do."

"Drinking my Jack Daniels when you hate it certainly doesn't help." She said solemnly and drank from the bottle again.

I sighed and let my hands go through my hair. "I don't hate it. I just… haven't had much whisky in the past."

"Cuba Libre more your style?"

"I never had that before the club."

"Really? So you basically just trusted my judgment then?"

"I guess." I answered with a small smile and watched her drink from the bottle again. "Do you drink often?"

Helga shook her head and swallowed. "Not often, no… but when I do, I drink till I pass out."

"That's your plan now?" I asked with big eyes as she drank again.

"It's never the plan. It just… happens." Helga admitted. "I guess this proves Olga is the perfect one in the family after all… I'd like to think I'm a pattern breaker too, but I drink just like my mom…"

"Helga, you're nowhere near your mother's level. You only drink once in a while, it's not the same as drinking yourself senseless every day." I said seriously.

Helga smiled at me. "Thanks for saying that, Football Head, but I'm sure this is how it started for Miriam too. It starts with a glass once in a while, then every day and then, before you know it, you've emptied a whole bottle in an hour." She said and looked at the bottle. I looked at it as well before I frowned and took it. I put it on the night desk next to the bed and then looked back at Helga who was smiling solemnly at me. "I wonder if Miriam didn't have anyone to take the bottle away from her."

Helga looked at me for a while through those blue, glazed eyes before she leaned forward and let her forehead fall down at the crook of my neck. My hands went up to her arms out of reflex, ready to steady her if she fell any further, but she didn't seem to have passed out as I first thought. I could feel her breath on my neck and it sent a shiver down my spine. I gulped nervously at having her so close to me and I wondered if she was already drunk, but I quickly shoved that thought away. She didn't have enough of that bottle to get drunk already, especially not if she had actually finished an entire bottle once.

Helga readjusted herself against my chest and both her hair and eyelashes tickled me. "Uh, H-Helga? Are you planning to go to sleep? Because if you are, maybe I should leave?"

"No. No…" Helga responded and shook her head which only served to tickle me even more. "I'm not gonna go to sleep so please stay."

Helga looked up at me through those black eyelashes of hers and I caught myself thinking that I'd do anything for her right then so I nodded in agreement. She gave a small smile at me, put her healthy hand on the bed and leaned closer to me. I closed my eyes, expecting a kiss from her, but she had reached for the bottle instead. I frowned in embarrassment as I watched her take some pills from her other night desk and then take them with the whisky.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Demerol, but honestly the whisky works just as well for the pain." Helga answered. She then smirked knowingly at me. "You thought I was gonna kiss you, weren't you?"

"Oh, n-no, I, um - - " I stuttered, but Helga cut my sentence short by planting her lips against mine. It was a short kiss and she smiled at me before giving me one more and then getting off the bed. I put my fingers up to my mouth, I could still feel her kiss linger there. _This is wrong, so very, very wrong_. I thought. I was skipping school to hang out with a girl that was not my girlfriend; that was high on the scale of things you shouldn't do. And yet I had to admit that I felt a sort of excitement I hadn't felt in a long time. After looking at the bottle for a second, I quickly grabbed it and took a swig from it while Helga walked towards her stereo.

"What do you usually listen to, Football Head?" Helga asked me.

"Jazz, honestly."

"Jazz?" Helga repeated in surprise and then snorted. "I don't have much jazz around here."

"I'm not racist towards other music." I joked and frowned right after. _Wow, ok. No more whisky for me_. I thought and put the bottle back.

Helga just chuckled at my answer though and put a CD on. "All I have is _Electro Velvet_." She said before some electrical, swing music came on. It sounded like nothing I had ever heard before. "It's as close as I'm gonna get to jazz."

"It's very… perky." I said as I started to bop my head. "What song is that?"

" _Still in love with you_. It was in the Eurovision contest."

"Eurovision? You watch that?"

Helga started bopping her head and swaying her hips and it was hard to concentrate on what she was saying when she did that. "Nah, Olga sends some of the songs to me sometimes. She and Nika watch it together."

I quirked an eyebrow at that. "Uh, I'm sorry for being ignorant, but how can Nika enjoy a show about music?"

"There are translators on, Arnold. Not American though, which sucks, but Olga translates for Nika sometimes." Helga answered me and started twisting her legs to the music. I chuckled as I watched her. She really was a natural dancer whether it was ballet, tango or swing it seemed. "Hey," she said and caught my attention again. "are you sure there's not even a smidge of you that thinks Lila might be gay?"

 _Not again_. I thought and sighed. "No, and neither do any of the boys, so just drop it." I answered.

Helga stopped dancing and stared at me. "Any of the boys? You told them?" she asked in incredulity.

I blinked in confusion. "Well… I-I needed a second opinion from _someone_." I answered and watched as Helga grabbed her head in frustration. "They all agreed that there was no way Lila was gay. No one believes that except you - - "

"Arnold! Don't you realize what you've done?" Helga asked, her voice dripping with disbelief. "You just outed Lila to all the boys in her class!"

I frowned. "I did not!" I insisted and stood up from her bed. "None of us believes Lila is gay and you don't know it either so how was that outing her?"

"It's true none of us knows it for sure, but would those boys have even thought of it before you told them?" Helga asked and crossed her arms.

"Well, probably not, but - - "

"Look, Arnold. I get it." Helga said and put her hand up to stop me from talking. "What I said shocked you, it would have shocked anyone to be told that their lover has a different sexuality than yourself. It's normal that you'd need the guidance from your friends, but if Lila _is_ gay then the fact that she is dating a boy to hide it proves how much she wants to keep it a secret!"

I stared at Helga, considering her words for a moment. "Wait, hold on! This is coming from _you_? The girl who _forced_ Lorenzo to either come out himself or let you tell everyone?"

"It was different with Lorenzo! I've known him for years, I know for sure that he was gay and I knew that he wanted to come out, but just needed a push! A violent one! Also, with his family no one would dare picking on him." Helga pointed out and finally went to turn off the music so she didn't have to yell. "Lila's not like that, she's a normal girl! Who or what is going to protect her if she comes out? The thing with Lorenzo was a whole other world. And remember, I'm not good and kind like you, I'll always push people to do what I believe is right, but you're held to a higher standard. You're supposed to do what is… well, the dependable thing to do."

I sat back down on the bed after I felt my knees give in under me. "I… I didn't mean to. I… I-I just needed to know if anyone else - - "

"I know!" Helga hissed, but then sighed as she went to sit next to me. "I know… but they didn't believe you, right?" she asked and I shook my head. "Then no harm done, hopefully… With that being said, I'm still of the opinion that what Lila is doing is cruel to you as well so don't feel too bad."

I sighed heavily and hid my face in my hands. "I don't know what to do… It feels like no matter what I do it's wrong… Lila's finally my girlfriend, but we're not as happy as I thought we would be and now you've put the idea of her might being gay in my head, but I can't talk about to anyone because that's outing her and - - "

"Hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey." Helga said and put her arm over my shoulders. "I didn't mean to put a guilt trip on you. You didn't think any of it and to be fair, people always talk about others. Especially when it comes to sexuality. People often don't care whether it's true or not, they'll spread nasty rumors anyway."

I looked up at her. "Why do I get the feeling that you know firsthand?"

Helga looked at me in awe. "How observant of you." She complimented and removed her arm from me. "A rumor about me being bisexual started at our school some years ago."

I blinked in surprise. "Wait… are you…?" I asked slowly when I recognized the rumor.

"Yup, I'm her." Helga snickered.

"I've heard that rumor. It's still going around. Why haven't you corrected anyone?" I asked.

"If people ask me, I tell them I'm straight." Helga replied, but then shrugged. "But people will believe what they want to believe. To them, it makes sense that I'd be bisexual if not gay so they don't like me telling them that I am straight and boring. It ruins the illusion they have of me and that's why I've given up on correcting them. It doesn't matter to me anyway."

"How can it not matter?" I asked as Helga lied down behind me and I had to turn around on the bed to see her.

"What can I say, Arnold? I don't think sexuality is a big deal."

"I… don't think I understand."

"Look, I've known a lot of people through my short life. I've known more homosexual, transsexual, asexual people and so on than you'll ever meet your entire life. To me, everyone's just a human and all those other things are just labels." Helga stated casually.

I looked at her in awe. "That's… kinda amazing, Helga."

"How so?"

"I-I mean… there are still so many people who won't accept others for who they are. I know there's a lot who do, but… your level of tolerance is really high and I think that makes you a really kind and good person. I'm… impressed." I told her honestly. I've always considered myself a person with good intentions who wanted to do what was right as often as I could, but the fact that Helga was so indifferent to others' sexuality almost made me wonder if she wasn't more of an angel than I was in comparison.

"I don't see what's so damn impressive about it." Helga said with a confused frown.

"And that's what makes you amazing." I said with one of my usual smiles.

Helga seemed surprised at my words for a moment and looked away with a shy smile of her own. "Thank you…" she mumbled somehow clumsily. I suddenly felt awkward as well and turned my eyes away from her. I tried thinking of something else, but suddenly the image of Helga on the bed wouldn't leave my mind. I could feel a dull pain in my thigh and I noticed that it was my own fingers digging into the flesh on my thigh. I tried to keep my composure, but I could feel my temperature and pulse rise. "Arnold?"

The sound of Helga calling my name almost made me jolt violently, but I was too frozen to do anything. I just made a low hum and tried to seem as if I was looking at her, but I couldn't bring myself to actually do it. I could feel the bed shift next to me and I automatically turned my whole body away from Helga, fearing what she was planning. A hand on my shoulder made me close my eyes in nervousness. My eyes opened on their own though when I felt a pair of legs enveloping mine and I saw that Helga was straddling me with her hands on my shoulders.

"I've thought of something you can do for me…" Helga said in a low voice that sounded extremely beguiling to me. I gulped at what that voice did to me and the feeling of her breasts pressed against my chest. When I tried to lean back out of slight fear, she put her hands down on the bed next to my hips and pressed herself even closer to me. I had to hold back a gasp when I felt her weight on my groin.

"H-Helga… I-I already feel guilty enough about the kisses. A-Anything more than that and I might just have to go to confession for the first time in my life - - "

"What exactly do you think I'm asking of you?" Helga asked with a knowing smile and I realized that I had just exposed my thoughts to her. "I won't take responsibility for that, that's your own dirty mind."

"O-Oh, please…" I insisted in a stutter. "H-How can I not think that's what you're doing…? When you're sitting on me like that."

"You want me to get off?" Helga asked smoothly and I fluttered my eyes open as I felt the tip of her nose touch mine. "Just say the word and I will."

I could feel Helga's soft breathing against my face. It was like a caress, as gentle as if by a butterfly. Her deep blue eyes seemed to be sucking me in and it was as if the tide was dragging me down. A million thoughts were going through my head, but I couldn't capture even one to hold onto to guide me. It was just me, me alone with my instincts. And as good as my instincts were, as my grandpa always said, they were tempted by the girl in front of me. Some different instincts were taking over, instincts I had fought so hard against since I met the one challenging them. It was a losing battle.

"Time's up." Helga declared before she smashed her lips against mine. I gasped in surprise, but the rest of my body acted on reflex; my hands went to her hips, holding her close to me as I kissed her deeply. I sighed through my nose in heavenly bliss when I could legitimately feel Helga moaning against my lips. Her arms wrapped around my neck and I put my hand on her head to make sure she stayed there, not that I expected that she was going to let go of me anytime soon. There was something completely animalistic about what I was feeling and when she pushed me down on the bed, I knew there was no turning back.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: Firstly, I don't care what anyone says! I love the song** _ **Still in love with you**_ **by** _ **Electro Velvet**_ **. I don't think it should have won or anything, but I was disappointed in the few points it got!**

 **Secondly, I feel that I need to comment on the part of this chapter that was about Arnold telling Helga that he told the boys about what she said about Lila. A reviewer mentioned that she felt like Arnold was outing Lila to the others even though neither he nor Helga know if Lila is homosexual or not. I personally don't agree on this because, as is also mentioned in this chapter, people will talk no matter what they hear.**

 **Like Helga, I'm talking from personal experience here as well. When I was 17-years-old, a rumor about me being bisexual started flowing and from one day to the other I became the "bisexual" girl in strangers' eyes. As weird as it was, mostly because no one asked me if it was true or not, I just went along with it honestly. To me, it wasn't an insult in anyone because I don't think sexuality is something to be ashamed of. I'm a dead-honest person and like Helga, I'd probably push someone to confess. Though I'd never out them myself, they have to do that on their own and in their own time, but I'll always be the motivational speaker for being true to yourself.**

 **I felt though that this reviewer had a point in what she said about Arnold possibly "outing" Lila and I wanted to take that seriously by having Helga and Arnold discuss it. I am still of the opinion though that if Lila** _ **is**_ **gay (we don't know yet, haha) then even if she is in her right to want to hide it, to date Arnold at the same time is cruel in my opinion. And again, I'm talking from personal experience here though this time it was my friend who was "wronged" so to speak by her boyfriend. He knew very well that he was gay, but started dating her anyway even though he knew just how much she loved him. To me, that was cruel and unnecessary so this is a touchy subject to me because of what happened to my friend. With that being said, after she had cried for about a month, they became friends and he is now out and proud. So happy ending is happy - ha-ha xD**

 **Oh, and on another subject: just so that you're not all sitting there in smut-suspense, there won't be any smut in the next chapter. I don't want to bust the whole thing, but I don't want my readers to sit and be excited for something that won't happen either xD**


	10. Ten times more complicated

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Boring"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **The day after Helga had gotten hurt at her ballet lesson, she called me in the early morning, asking me if I could take her to school since her own car was still at Les Cygnes Gracieux. I agreed of course and once we reached the school we ran into Eugene and Lorenzo who had clearly become the happy couple Helga had foreseen they would be. She refused to let me help her walk to school though so I decided to take her home and didn't have it in me to leave her home alone.**_

 _ **Helga confessed to me that she, like her mother, sometimes drank in the middle of the day though she wasn't anywhere nearly as addicted as Miriam was. I told Helga that I still didn't believe that Lila was gay, especially because my friends didn't either and she mentioned that she didn't consider sexuality as anything important in a person. After I called her amazing, I realized how hard my heart was beating just from being next to her and I couldn't resist her when she kissed me again.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: I don't have much to say really… xD Enjoy? Haha Cx**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 10: "Ten times more complicated"

I was sitting in Slausen's, fiddling with my cup of coffee. I could feel Gerald's burning eyes on me, waiting impatiently for me to ask why I had called him out here only to sit in awkward silence. I tried opening my mouth to talk, but the words wouldn't come out. I didn't know where I was supposed to start. When I finally collected enough courage though and looked at him, he was drinking from his own coffee that was significantly less sweeter than mine was.

"Ok, talk." Gerald said in confusion after he had finished drinking from his cup of coffee on this cold morning. "Why aren't you talking?"

"I wanted to make sure you didn't spit your coffee on me when I tell you." I admitted and fidgeted with my own cup again which I knew I wasn't going to be able to drink anyway.

"Whoa, this must be really bad…" Gerald declared and let go of his cup dramatically. "It's safe now. Tell me."

Despite his joking manner, I didn't feel less concerned. I didn't know how else to say it than just say it. "I almost had sex with Helga."

Gerald blinked a couple of times before he looked at his coffee. "Good thing you didn't tell me while I was drinking…" he declared casually, but then he got a wild look in his eyes. "How?! When?! Where?! What is going on?!"

"C-Calm down!" I begged and looked around, making sure no one was staring at us. "T-To make a long story short… You noticed I didn't come to school today, right?"

"Everyone noticed. That, and Eugene said he was worried about you because he had just seen you this morning… _with Helga_." Gerald replied.

I sighed. "Thanks to me Helga has twisted both her ankle and wrist during ballet."

"How was that your fault?"

"We fought just before and that made her distracted."

"… So, it was a sort of pity fuck?"

"No!" I declared loudly and banged my hand on the table, but steadied it when it wobbled. With another sigh and an apologetic look at the other customers, I looked back at Gerald. "I-I just promised her yesterday that if I could help her in any way then she should tell me - - "

"So you helped her scratch an itch?"

"Would you stop?!" I begged and let Gerald finish snickering before I continued. "So she asked me yesterday to drive her to school, but her ankle was just too bad so I drove her back home and then I kinda just… went into her house with her. I didn't feel like leaving her home alone like that. We went to her room, talked for a bit and then… then came those eyes."

"Eyes?"

"Those smoldering, beautiful, completely captivating eyes…" I explained with flushed cheeks. "I don't know what it is, but when Helga looks at me something inside me just crumbles."

"Sounds like you got it bad, dude." Gerald said curiously and I sighed.

"I… I guess I… do." I admitted.

I had finally come to terms with the fact that I was 100% attracted to Helga Pataki. I hated myself for it, for several reasons. One, I was dating someone else. Two, Helga was not the kind of girl you should fall in love with; Matt was proof of that. If not even he stood a chance, how could I? Also, and I know this shouldn't be up for debate for me, but she wasn't a girl you'd bring home to your parents I think. I don't think Helga's the kind of girl who would _want_ to meet your parents. I was captivated by her, but she wasn't my dream girl in any way. Perhaps that was why I was attracted to her, the whole opposites attract thing. It sure was working wonders on me.

"Wow…" Gerald mumbled in awe. "So, if you only _almost_ had sex with Helga… what happened?"

"Well…" I started awkwardly and rolled my shoulders. "We were kissing when we heard a noise from downstairs. Helga declared that it was probably her mom, she had been napping when we got home and she went downstairs to check on her. While I was alone, I had… _time_ to think."

"Time?" Gerald repeated curiously.

"There was nothing distracting me, ok?" I said shyly. "A-Anyway, I realized what I was about to do; sleep with Helga and cheat on Lila. So I… I panicked."

"Panicked?" Gerald asked and leaned forward. "What did you do?"

I closed my eyes in shame. "I jumped out her window…"

When I opened my eyes, Gerald was staring at me through his big, brown eyes. "You bailed on her?" he asked in a monotone voice.

"Yes." I replied without much emotion as well.

"And she hasn't tried calling you?"

"No."

"Texted you?"

"No."

"You think she'll cut your junk off when she sees you?"

"Oh, yeah."

Gerald put his palm over his face and let it fall down, dragging the skin on his face down with him before it plumbed back into place. "You're a bold kid, Arnold."

"Bold? For being a total coward and not owning up to my own feelings or mistakes?"

"No, for jumping out of a window, leaving a girl like _Helga_ behind." Gerald explained. "I'm not sure I'm joking when I asked about her cutting your balls off."

I groaned and hid my face in my hands. "I wouldn't blame her… I'm straining Helga along while cheating on Lila. I'm the worst…"

"This _is_ the most rotten thing you've ever done."

"You're not really helping."

"Arnold," Gerald said sarcastically. "did you really think I would?" he asked. I instantly glared at him and he laughed at my expression. "Ok, ok… Look, it's not the end of the world, but you need to figure out what you want. I mean, what happened to you being so obsessed with Lila?"

"I admit that our relationship was never really what I thought it would be…"

"Yeah, no wonder. She's never even kissed you."

"Huh? Yes, she has."

Gerald shook his head and then stared at me. "Wait. When did she kiss you?"

"At the club when I was out with her and the ballet dancers. It was a couple of days ago." I replied in confusion. Had I really not told him about that?

"How come as soon as Helga kissed you the first time you told me, but when Lila kisses you, I hear nothing for two days?" Gerald asked, but something in his facial expression told me he wasn't expecting an answer. It was more like a statement. "Arnold, I think you need to start considering if you even have any feelings for Lila left."

"But I've always adored Lila!" I insisted stubbornly. There was something inside me that was fighting ferociously against this other part of me that knew that my feelings for Lila had changed. It was hard to accept that a part of you that had been there for 7 years was dying.

"Well, maybe it was the idea of Lila you liked." Gerald suggested.

"What?" I asked in slight disbelief, not because of the suggestion, but because it was coming from Gerald.

"You've always said that you liked Lila because you felt you were perfect together. You got along so well, had the somewhat same personalities and wanted the same things in life… I don't know, maybe you just liked the thought of being with someone like Lila who is kinda perfect in her way. Maybe it was never really _her_ that you liked."

I blinked in confusion before a smile spread on my face. "When did you become so wise?"

Gerald smiled a sheepish smile I had never seen before. "I've met a girl… who's, um, pretty smart actually."

"You met a girl? When?!"

"A couple weeks ago."

"Oh, man! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just didn't wanna bother you when you were in such a mess of your own." Gerald said with a smile that told me that he wasn't angry with me at all.

"Gerald, no matter how big a mess I'm in, I always want you to tell me stuff like that." I said seriously.

Gerald smirked at me. "Thanks, Arnold."

"So, come on! Tell me about her. What's her name?" I asked excitedly. Gerald wasn't exactly inexperienced when it came to girls, but he was hardly ever serious about them. There was something about his smile that told me this one was different though.

"Well, her name is Phoebe." Gerald started and then continued telling me about her for a while. I listened intensely to every detail, teasing Gerald from time to time when I noticed that he was getting shy. I told him I would love to meet her and he said that he'd like me to meet her as well, but he wanted to wait a bit and see where it was going before he sprung his friends on her. I understood that and agreed to settle with just hearing about her for now.

* * *

As I had foreseen, Helga refused to meet my gaze when I came to pick Lila up from Les Cygnes Gracieux. She didn't seem furious with me, more like she just didn't want to look at me. She seemed more distant and cold than anything and I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing in comparison to a more hateful stare. I noticed that she and Matt still weren't talking; their dancing was as perfect as ever, but they didn't seem to have fun while doing it. I wondered if Matt felt as rotten as I did.

Lila seemed distant as well when she came over to me; she was clearly thinking hard about something. "Lila?" I asked gently.

She whipped her head up and looked at me as if she didn't realize I was there waiting for her. "Uh, s-sorry, Arnold. I'm just… There's an ever so lot on my mind." She admitted.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" I asked and put my hand on her shoulder.

She smiled halfheartedly at me. "Th-Thank you, Arnold, but I-I don't think this is something you can help with."

Those words would have hurt a lot more four months ago and I knew the reason why they didn't hurt as much now. The reason came walking towards us in quick steps and I noticed Matt following her. He was clearly apologizing to her, but she ignored him as she ignored me as well when she walked by us. I watched as she went out the door and sighed along with Matt. I looked at him half sympathetically and half accusingly. I didn't blame Helga for being mad at him, but he was clearly begging for her forgiveness. It looked like Helga had a certain talent for this; capable of making others unbelievably mad at her, but if it was the other way around, people would beg for her forgiveness.

"A-Arnold, I need to talk to Helga before we go, ok?" Lila asked and jogged after Helga.

I followed her and held the door open for both her and Justin who came running. Matt stayed behind though, probably not in the mood to be with a lot of people. When I went outside, Helga was leaning against the wall. Lila seemed to be trying to approach her, but Justin stopped her. He whispered something to her, but she shook her head at him and tried to approach Helga again. The whole scene confused me, but when I was about to ask Justin what was going on, I noticed someone familiar inside a car I had never seen before.

"Gerald?" I asked and tilted my head in confusion.

"Hey, Phoebs!" Helga yelled with a smile and I first now noticed the girl driving the car Gerald was in. She was of Asian descent it seemed, a head shorter than him and dressed in blue clothing and blue glasses. I figured she must be the girl Gerald had told me about earlier. Then I realized that Helga had just called her name.

"Wait, how do you know Gerald's girlfriend?" I asked and approached Helga.

"What do you mean how do I know her? She's my best friend." Helga answered without looking at me. But then she seemed to understand my confusion and pointed in their direction as Phoebe parked the car. "Wait, isn't that _your_ friend?"

"Yeah, that's… Gerald, _my_ best friend." I stated.

Helga looked between me and the couple walking towards us before she let the back of her head bang against the wall. "Oh, no…" she said nasally.

"Arnold, what are you doing here?" Gerald asked when they approached us. He looked between me and Helga and then his face took on an expression that resembled the one where you had been struck by lightning. He pointed at Helga as he looked at Phoebe. "W-Wait, _your_ best friend is Helga Pataki?"

"Y-Yes." The girl responded and looked at me curiously. Then she looked at Helga. "Is this - - "

"Yeah." Helga answered curtly without looking at me.

"Oh…" Phoebe mumbled in understanding. Clearly, Helga had talked enough about me for Phoebe to know why this was awkward. She started snickering though which earned her a hateful stare from Helga. "Oh, I-I'm sorry, but it is a rather funny coincidence."

"Sure…" Helga said and looked at me. I felt so small under her glare. "Let's call it _funny_ … Anyways, you came here to introduce me to Gerald, but I already know him. You sure you still want me to do join you for dinner?"

"Please do, Helga. I still want you two to meet more officially." Phoebe begged.

Helga sighed and put on a smile. "Sure, if you say so." She answered. I couldn't help but smile at that; Helga seemed to really care about Phoebe. She was willing to have dinner with her and Gerald, the best friend of the guy whom had recently bailed on her. It was almost impressive really.

"O-Oh, Helga. Please wait." Lila said and grabbed Helga's hand. "Could I please talk to you first?"

"What? But I - - "

"It'll only be a minute! Please." Lila begged and pulled Helga along with her who was completely baffled by the whole thing.

"I'll be right back, Phoebs." She said before she followed Lila.

They were stopped for a second though by Justin who once again hissed at Lila. She ignored him though and continued on. Helga and Lila disappeared around the corner and I stared at them in shock, wondering what it was that was so important that Lila had to pull Helga away like that.

Justin looked at me, biting his lip. "I hate doing this to you…" he said and put his hand on my shoulder. "And I hate doing it to Lila, but it's been going on for too long. Go and listen to them."

"What? B-But I - - "

"No, seriously. You need to hear what Lila has to say." Justin said. He was obviously ashamed of telling me this. He looked like he was betraying a friend and that just made me all the more anxious to actually follow them.

I looked behind me at Gerald, praying he would give a hint to what he thought I should do. He thought for a moment before he nodded at me. Phoebe nodded at me as well even though I hadn't asked for her advice. It was nice to get the acceptance from Helga's best friend though.

I quickly jogged towards the corner where Lila and Helga had disappeared to. They were standing about 16 feet away from me, Lila with her back turned to me and Helga looking at her with an impatient look on her face. Lila seemed to be fiddling with her fingers if the way she was staring at the ground while her arms were up to her hips was any indication. Lila wasn't talking which was probably why Helga looked so annoyed.

"Look, Lila. If you've changed your mind about talking to me then I really need to head back." Helga said, but she didn't move. She clearly just wanted Lila to spill the beans already.

"No, no. I… I _need_ to say this… or else I'll never get over it." Lila declared and took a deep breath. She moved her head up and looked at Helga and I could see the clear resolution in the way her back arched. "I… like you, Helga."

Helga's eyes widened. Mine would have too if I hadn't been to shocked to move even an inch. No one would drag someone away to tell them that they liked them unless it was liked them liked them. Lila was telling Helga that she liked her and that fact kept spinning around in my head. I felt dizzy and the sounds around me seemed to disappear. All I could hear was Helga's sharp inhale of breath.

"I had a feeling…" Helga almost whispered and looked away from Lila. Her eyes caught something near me and she looked up. Our eyes met and she looked at me with pure fear in her eyes. The sympathy was written on her face, but I had no idea what kind of face I was making. She bit on her lower lip for a moment before she looked at Lila again. "What about Arnold?"

The mention of my name caused my chest to jolt. Lila seemed to feel the same way and she looked back up at Helga. "I… I like Arnold… a lot. He's a sweetheart, just ever so much! He's kind, generous, patient and… oh, I would just love it ever so much if I… if I…"

"Felt the same he feels for you?" Helga asked, drawling the words to make sure that I heard them.

Lila nodded. "I thought… I thought if _anyone_ could make me feel that way for them, it would be Arnold. He has loved me for so long and I adore him for his loyalty. I-I thought, if maybe I just gave it a chance, this feeling would change. That… That I would feel for him what I was supposed to feel…" she said sadly.

"Supposed to feel?" Helga asked and quirked an eyebrow. She seemed to have forgotten about me now.

"I don't want to feel this way towards you… to-towards _girls_ … but it seems like not even Arnold can change this. If an amazing boy like that can't change me, I don't think anyone can."

"Hey," Helga said and lifted Lila's face to look at her. "you don't have to change Lila. Not for yourself or for anyone else." she said and then realized that she was touching Lila's face and whipped her hand away. "You don't need to be ashamed of who you are, Lila."

"I know, I know… My head knows, but whenever I try to tell someone, I feel like the ground is falling under my feet!" Lila declared in a sob and hid her face behind her hands.

"Then why did you tell me?" Helga asked gently.

Lila sniffed once and removed her hands. "Because I know what you are like, Helga. You can be ever so crude in your way of talking to people, but you are in fact kind and tolerant… I needed to tell someone, _anyone_ , about this."

"Am I the only one who knows?"

"Yes… but I think my daddy might be catching on. He asks about Arnold just ever so much and I always avoid the conversation… I think he might know that I'm not truly happy with him." Lila confessed and I could hear the sob in her voice again.

Helga put her hand on Lila's shoulder. "The toughest one to tell is always your parent. If he's already got a clue, it would probably be easy for you to tell him. Lila, he might just accept you for who you are. Wouldn't that be just ever so amazing, to put it in your words?" she asked with a small smile.

Lila gave a breathless chuckle. "Yes, it would be… I can't imagine daddy _not_ accepting me… It's everyone else I'm afraid of." She admitted. "Especially Arnold."

"Why Arnold?"

"Because of what I've done to him! He cares for me just ever so much and yet I have done this to him! I could have told him the truth, he would never tell anyone if I asked him. I knew that, but I just hoped ever so desperately that he could change me!"

"You _can't_ change something like this, Lila! Millions have tried and millions have failed. Those who claim they went from gay to straight are in deep denial and too afraid. You can't keep lying to yourself or Arnold. And you're right, what you're doing to him _is_ cruel." Helga said angrily. Lila started sobbing again and Helga sighed. "But I guess I know why you did this… I can't blame you for hoping. But, Lila, the world is a much better place when you can love yourself just as you are."

"I thought you'd understand… Thank you, Helga." Lila said and sniffed. "I-I don't expect you to feel the same for me at all, of course. I just… needed to get it out. To say it. It was the only way I could think of to get the feeling out of my system."

"Do you think it'll disappear because you've said it? I guess you don't like me _that_ much then." Helga joked.

Lila chuckled. "N-No, I do like you a lot… but I think it's also admiration. I always knew there wasn't a chance so I just needed to let go of the feeling. Thank you for being so understanding."

"Sure thing and I won't tell on you…" Helga said somehow awkwardly. "But what are you going to do about Arnold?"

"I-I'll tell him… I promise."

"When?"

"I just… need a little time. I'll tell daddy first. Then Arnold… And I hope he can forgive me someday." Lila promised.

"I… hope so too." Helga said and looked in my direction. "Hey, just out of curiosity… why _did_ you kiss Arnold at the club before you went home?"

Lila lifted her head and hesitated. "I… I wanted to get back at you…" she admitted shamefully. "At the time, I thought maybe you had kissed Arnold because you found out how I felt about you and… wanted to mock me."

Helga frowned deeply. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, of-of course I know that wasn't the case at all!" Lila said and waved her hand. "I was just ever so edgy that night and I felt… like everyone knew somehow. I felt put in the spotlight and I took that out on both you and Arnold… I'm sorry."

Helga seemed like she wanted to say something, but changed her mind. She crossed her arms instead. "Want to head back to the others?"

"No, no. I… I need to be alone right now. This was an ever so big step for me and I need to think for a bit. Maybe if I'm lucky I can collect enough courage to tell daddy tonight." Lila said and with those words, she walked past Helga, not giving her a chance to say goodbye to her.

I could feel my body turn away from the scene to look at the others, but it didn't feel like I was the one controlling my movements. They were all staring at me, completely unaware of what a mental bomb that had just been thrown at me. I felt a hand on my shoulder and without protesting, I let Helga pull me back around the wall. She was staring at me, looking for traces of life in my eyes.

"Hey." Helga said and clapped my cheek. I shook my head and put my hand over hers in surprise at the small slap. "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing and everything." I replied in anything but a humorous voice. My brain didn't seem to have fully understood what I had just found out.

Helga made a small sigh and let her hand fall away from my cheek. It took me a moment before my own hand fell down too though. "I wish I could say that I had no idea, but…"

I sighed in annoyance. "I don't want to hear you telling me _I told you so_ , ok?" I pleaded and ran my fingers through my hair. I could feel the tension rise in me and the anger start. I wasn't sure where the rage was coming from, but I could feel it bobbling strongly inside.

"I wasn't going to." Helga insisted and by the way her eyebrows were knitted together, I could see that she was irritated at my comment. At that moment, I didn't care.

"Oh, please." I hissed and threw my hands down. "I bet you want to. You want to do a little happy dance and gloat about how you were right all along and how stupid I was for not seeing it and trust her so much!"

Helga growled. "Now, wait just a minute, you - - "

"No! I will not wait just a minute! Everything's so messed up! Lila's not what I thought she was, but I can't be angry at her because she can't help it! But at least I can be angry at you!"

"Me?! What did I do?!"

"Because even though I just found out that Lila isn't in love with me, I don't care as much as I should and that's your fault!"

"How is it my fault?!"

"Why do you care, Helga?" I asked, feeling my lungs starting to burn from my yelling. "You never actually told me that, why do you care?! Why did you care if I was bored with Lila, why do you care about me or my parents, why do you care about _anything_ that involves me?!"

"You're right!" Helga screamed and threw her arms out. "Why should I care _indeed_? It's not like I've started to care about you these last four months we've known each other! It's not like Lila talked about you at the ballet lessons and I got curious about you! It's not like I hadn't seen you in the library with Lila before and started following you around because I was too shy to actually approach you! It's not like when I found out that we played together as children that I was so unbelievably happy to have found you again! It's not like hearing about your parents made me cry when I got home! It's not like all these things meant _anything_ to me, Arnold Shortman!"

Helga was breathing hard from having screamed at the top of her lungs for so long. The sound of her breathing was hoarse, but I didn't notice it too much. I was too shocked by what she had just told me and I felt frozen to the ground as I stared at her. She seemed to slowly realize that she had just told me and her eyes widened until they were as big as mine were. I could hear some footsteps near us, but I didn't look towards the sound. I could hear Phoebe's somewhat panicked voice as she tried holding Gerald back who had just appeared around the corner.

"Gerald, I don't think we should interfere." Phoebe insisted.

"What are you yelling about?" Gerald asked worriedly in my direction. I looked at him, unsure what I was supposed to reply to that. I wasn't sure what the answer was. When I looked back at Helga she was looking away from me.

"Sorry, Phoebs, but I'm going home." Helga declared and walked towards the others, cringing with every step she took with her right foot.

"Are you alright?" Phoebe asked and let go of Gerald's arm to grab at Helga's, but she didn't catch her before she was already past her.

"No." Helga replied simply with no emotion in her voice and continued down the street.

"G-Gerald, my apologies, but I have to…" Phoebe said gently, but didn't finish her sentence before she was already running down the street to catch up with Helga. She put her hands on her shoulders and led her towards the car she had arrived in with Gerald. Helga sat inside on Phoebe's request and Phoebe shot a quick apologetic look in Gerald's direction before she sat next to her. The car eventually disappeared down the street.

Gerald turned to look at me and jogged until he was right next to me. "What just happened?" he asked as Justin approached me as well. Justin seemed less confused than Gerald did though.

I put my hand up to my head as if that could somehow make the spinning stop. "Things just got ten times more complicated…"

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: Yes! I am evil and cruel for ending this chapter here xD *Evil laugh* Anyways, yes. Lila** _ **is**_ **gay in this story and has had feelings for Helga all along. I noticed that some the reviews hinted that they weren't sure if Helga was right about this and were actually sure that Lila was in fact in love with Matt. That's not the case, Helga was right; as per usual xD**

 **And, yeah, I thought it was time to have Phoebe finally appear in this story. I've always made sure that she and Gerald were in my stories as well since they are important characters to Arnold and Helga, but I admit that they haven't gotten much attention in this story and that's not gonna change. I don't even know if Phoebe will have another appearance or not. We'll see where this story takes me :P**


	11. Brilliant karma

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Boring"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **After having almost had sex with Helga, I had to confess the situation to Gerald and admit that I had finally come to terms with the fact that I was in love with the blonde girl. Gerald in that conversation mentioned to me that he had actually found a girl that he was really fond of already.**_

 _ **When I went to pick Lila up after her ballet lesson, I ran into Gerald who appeared with his new girlfriend who turned out to be Phoebe, Helga's best friend. Lila had to talk to Helga privately, but the others insisted that I followed them and I overheard Lila confirm Helga's suspicion; that she was gay and liked Helga. Once Lila had left, I ended up saying some horrible things to Helga I deeply regretted afterwards.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: I don't know what to say! But please read the second author's note in case you usually don't :P Then again, if you don't usually read the second one, you probably won't read the first one either so my comment is moot xD**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 11: "Brilliant karma"

 _To call or not to call…_ I thought as I stared at my phone, leaning lazily against the couch I was sitting on. I groaned at my own thoughts and put the phone back on the table. It didn't matter how many times I picked it up or how many minutes I stared at it; I didn't have it in me to call Helga.

"Now, Short man." My grandpa said impatiently and put his paper down on his lap. "You've been looking at that phone for hours. If you want to talk to Lila that much, just call her! Take some initiative."

"It's not Lila I'm waiting for…" I answered as I stared at my phone again.

"Oh?" Grandpa said curiously and put his paper away on the table, which told me that I now had his full attention.

"I… I had a fight with Helga. Kind of." I explained. In truth it wasn't as much a fight as me being a total jerk to her.

"What about?"

"I can't really tell…" I said and scratched my head awkwardly. "Let's just say that… Helga told me something a long time ago that I didn't believe and when I found out that she was right… I took my anger out on her."

"That doesn't sound like you, Arnold." Grandpa said curiously with one of his bushy, gray eyebrows arched.

I sighed. "But it _was_ me… I was a total jerk to her and… and she kinda told me something that… just makes this whole thing even more complicated."

"What thing?" Grandpa asked and I instantly felt my cheeks blushing. He hummed teasingly in understanding. "I see…"

After going through the things Helga had last said to me, I had finally decided that it wasn't arrogant of me to think that those things meant she had feelings for me. I had twisted and turned her words so many times to try and see if I had misunderstood in any way, but there was no other way to understand her confession; it _was_ a confession of love. To what degree I didn't know, but she had admitted that she was too shy to approach me. Well, until that faithful day when she finally stepped into my life and made the worst first impression possible. I guess the fact that I had feelings for her as well proved that first impressions didn't always last.

"I feel like the most rotten person in the world…" I admitted and hid my head in the backrest of the couch.

"Oh, don't worry too much." Grandpa insisted. "Helga's a good girl, she'll come around."

"How do you know?" I asked with little to no hope. I was sure I had really messed things up this time. With this on top of what I had done to her the night before, I wouldn't blame her if she never wanted to see me again.

"Because she did back then too." Grandpa answered and took his newspaper again.

I lifted my head off the backrest and looked at him. "When?"

"When you were kids." Grandpa explained and that got my attention even more. "Helga usually decided what you two would play and one day you got tired of that and told her you wanted to decide some things too. Mind you, you didn't say it in a nice way and she stomped off in anger."

Despite the fact that my grandpa was snickering at the memory, I didn't have it in me to see the funny part in it. Her stomping away sounded too familiar. "Y-Yes, and?"

"Well, the next day you went straight to her and apologized to your heart's content. You were so scared that she didn't want to play with her anymore. You even gave her a small flower as a gift because I told you she might like it."

 _I gave Helga a flower?_ I thought with reddened cheeks and cursed myself for not being able to remember these things. "And what happened?"

"What do you mean what happened? Helga glared at you for a moment, rolled her eyes and sighed. Then you put the flower in her hair and you went straight back to playing." Grandpa told me with one of his usual toothless smiles.

"Just like that?" I asked in surprise.

"Just like that…" Grandpa confirmed. "I think that Helga, even at that age, knew that she sometimes pushed people's buttons. I honestly think she was relieved that you came to apologize because she doesn't really have it in herself to do it even if she wanted to. Her sister mentioned something like that actually."

"Huh…" I muttered to myself and grabbed my phone. I almost started tapping on it, but then thought of something else and walked out of the room. I came back in a second later though. "Uh, grandpa?"

"Yeah?" he said, his eyes still glued to the newspaper.

"What, uh… What flower was it that I gave Helga?" I asked shyly.

Grandpa looked up and grinned at me. "Oh, I believe it was a pink one from that flowerbed that's right next to the sandbox." He said knowingly.

Rather than confessing what I had in mind, I just thanked my grandpa for the advice and ran out of Sunset Arms with my backpack over my shoulders. If I hurried, I'd might be able to make it before it was time for school.

* * *

As soon as it was lunch break, I darted towards the library. I was almost nervous to go inside really, but I knew I didn't have much of a choice if I wanted Helga to forgive me. I took a deep breath and walked inside. I was greeted by a curt nod from the librarian who pointed to the sign next to her that said _Quiet_. I nodded at the reminder and walked through the shelves of books. I hoped I would find Helga at the place she had been the other times I had met her in the library, but it was a long time ago. Chances were she didn't even come to the library anymore.

When I walked around that shelf though, Helga was in fact sitting at her usual spot, with one leg bent as she had done the first time I saw her here. Rather than in the middle of reading a book though, she had her eyes closed and had pink headphones over her ears. She was making movements with her arms and fingers and I recognized it as ASL even though I had no idea what she was signing of course. I smiled curiously at the image of Helga sitting in the library and signing to what I assumed was a song. I walked up to her slowly and sat down next to her without her noticing me. I kept watching her arms move around slowly in probably perfect rhythm to whatever she was listening to. It was like she was singing with her body.

Helga suddenly sighed and let her arms fall down to her lap. That calm expression on her face turned tense and she opened her eyes to grab her phone. In the process she noticed me next to her and screamed in shock. The librarian hushed us instantly and Helga put a hand over her mouth. I looked at her apologetically, but when she removed her hand, she was glaring at me.

"You gave me a heart attack, bucko!" Helga hissed angrily and took her headphones off.

"Sorry." I said with a careful smile. "Were you signing the song you were listening to?"

Helga gave me a bit of a look, but she answered me anyway. "Yes, I was. It's actually pretty normal. There are ASL cover artists all over YouTube as well." She replied curtly and put her phone and headphones in her bag.

"Do you do that with Nika too?"

Helga looked at me in annoyance. "Yes, I do, but right now I was doing it because I always start missing doing ASL when they leave." She answered snappily. "Now, what do you think you're doing here exactly? You don't look like someone who is planning on doing a little studying."

"I came here looking for you." I said honestly. Helga crossed her arms and waited for me to start talking. "I'm really, really sorry about all those things I said. I didn't mean them, I… I was angry about the whole Lila thing. I really appreciate your concern, Helga."

"Appreciate my concern, he says…" Helga muttered to herself and scowled at me. "I don't wanna hear this."

Helga moved around, clearly intent on leaving. "W-Wait!" I begged and pulled out the flower. I moved it in front of her eyes and she looked at it in surprise. "My grandpa told me that when we were kids, we had a fight… and I gave you a flower as an apology."

I prayed that the shameful cuteness in what I was doing would be able to melt Helga's heart. I hoped she could see that my gesture was sincere and not some trick to win her over. She was gazing at the flower curiously and I could see a very small smile on her lips for a moment.

"Right… Olga told me about that too." Helga whispered to herself and lifted her hand to take the flower. She frowned though and put her hand back on the ground. "You know, the same trick won't work on me twice."

"It's not a trick!" I insisted in a panic, but then noticed the small smirk on Helga's face. "I am really sorry, Helga… and I hope that you will forgive me." I said and Helga kept smirking as she looked between me and the flower. Then she rolled her eyes, sighed and reached for it. "No, wait."

"What now?" Helga asked in clear annoyance since she had obviously already forgiven me and now I was apparently asking for more.

"So, I-I'm gonna put this flower in your hair." I stated as steadily as I could, but I could feel my vocal cord shaking. Helga looked at me in surprise, but not in horror as I moved the flower towards her face. "A-And I'd appreciate it if you didn't punch me for it."

"O… kay?" Helga said almost questioningly and closed her eyes as I put the flower behind her ear. Once my hand had moved away from her face, she fluttered her eyes open. I could see a very distinctive blush on her face which I was sure matched my own. The sight of Helga looking at me so shyly with a hidden smile on her face and with that pink flower in her hair I had just given her did something to me. I was leaning towards her before I could stop myself and the feeling of her lips against mine sent a wave of relief over me. I felt her hand on my chest though and she pushed me away softly. "Hold on, Football Head. I have one question before you can start taking liberties."

"I-I didn't mean to…" I started, but noticed the small smirk on her face and changed my words. "What's the question?"

"What are you going to do about Lila?" Helga asked me and let her hand disappear from my chest. I almost felt sad by the lack of touch, even if it had been used to push me away only a moment earlier.

I sighed at the reminder of Lila and thought my answer over before I talked. "I'm not sure really… I mean, I can't tell her that I know she's gay. There's no way she'll believe that I figured it out on my own."

"Of course." Helga agreed without a hint of sarcasm and I frowned in her direction for a second.

"But if I tell her that someone else told me, she'll be hurt and I don't want that either."

Helga looked me over. "You're telling me that your girlfriend has been emotionally cheating on you this whole time and yet you're worried about hurting _her_?" she asked.

"Well… yeah." I admitted.

Helga blinked a couple of times before she smacked me on the head. "Stupid." She called me. "Sweet, but stupid."

I made a small sigh that turned into a chuckle. "You know, I would never have found out if it hadn't been for you." I reminded her.

"Mea culpa." Helga said sarcastically and chuckled with me. "So… the plan is to wait for Lila to come and tell you on her own?"

"I guess so. There's not much else to do, I think. I want to make this as easy for her as possible. It's _her_ coming out so she would be allowed to do it at her own pace. So, I'll… just play oblivious, I guess. I feel like that's all I can do for her. It's not like I've been the best boyfriend either."

"You're kidding? You've been an amazing boyfriend. You've listened to her, been patient, loyal - - "

"Loyal?" I repeated in disbelief.

"I meant loyal as in you believed her over me, not _faithful_." Helga said with a smirk. I noticed that her finger started playing with the flower in her hair. "Wait. Where did you get this flower anyway? It's winter."

"At Mrs. Vitello's flower shop. I wanted to give you the real one at the park, but like you said, it's winter."

"So you're not even sure if it's the same flower?" Helga asked with a lop-sided grin.

"It's a pink wildflower, Helga. How many different kinds are there?"

"Ooh, don't say that to Mrs. Vitello. She'll give you a lecture if she heard you talk like that."

"Good thing she's not a volunteer at our school then." I said with a chuckle in my voice. Helga chuckled as well and I was once again reminder that it was the sweetest sound in the world. I gazed at her for a moment and she gazed back at me with those big, blue eyes.

"You can take liberties now." Helga said and was leaning closer to me before we both jumped in surprise. My phone was vibrating in my pocket and I pulled it out with a sigh. My eyes widened at the sight of the name.

"It's Lila."

"What does it say?" Helga asked and leaned over my shoulder to read the text. "Well, sounds like she's going to tell you already. That was fast. I guess it went well with her dad then." She observed and looked at me. "Are you gonna be ok?"

I put the phone back in my pocket with a sigh. "I… guess so. I just hope I can put on a straight face."

"On the contrary, you should put on an emotional one." Helga teased and jumped onto her feet in that inhumanely graceful way. She offered me her hand and I took it. She helped me stand up and quickly readjusted my shirt. I almost felt shy as he did so; it resembled a wife sending her husband off to work somehow. "Remember, you knew nothing of it before and are upset, but not miserable that she is gay and breaking up with you."

"Is that the perfect recipe for how to handle this or something?"

"It's as close to perfect as it's gonna be." Helga replied playfully and grabbed my hand. My fingers tightened around hers as she led me out of the library.

"Wait. Are you going with me?"

"Are you insane?" Helga asked once we were out in the hallway. "I'm just following you there."

Something told me Helga wasn't being 100% sincere, but I didn't have it in me to wonder about it too much. _This is it_ , I thought and took a couple of deep breaths as Helga and I walked up the stairs towards the roof. Lila had told me she wanted me to come there before lunch break was over. It was a nice spot though, pretty secluded. I assumed that was why Lila wanted to meet me there.

Once we were at the door, Helga gave me an encouraging pat on the shoulder and opened the door for me. I took a deep breath and walked outside. I found Lila instantly since she was the only person on the roof at the moment. When I heard the door close behind me, I turned around to see that Helga had already disappeared out of my vision. I looked back at Lila and started walking towards her. My steps felt heavy, but I continued until I had my hands on the railing as well.

Lila flinched in surprise. "Oh, Arnold! You surprised me ever so much."

"You asked me to come here, didn't you?" I reminded her as kindly as I could, but the tension in my voice was probably obvious. If it was, Lila ignored it.

"Y-Yes, but I didn't hear you come at all." She explained and started fiddling with one of her braids with both of her hands. I remembered how I used to love watching her do that, how I used to think it was so cute. Now all I could think of was that if Helga wore her hair in braids, I would probably pull them out instantly.

"When is the recital?" I asked.

"Huh?" Lila mumbled and looked at me in surprise.

"The recital for _Princess Tutu_. It's soon, right?"

"Oh… Oh, y-yes! It's on Christmas Eve actually." Lila said and looked away again, smiling a bit. "I'm rather nervous really."

"I'm sure it will be great, Lila. And I've been there to see your progress so you can trust me on that."

Lila chuckled breathlessly. "Thank you, Arnold…" she said with a tense smile.

"So… what did you want to talk about?" I asked and hoped I had calmed her down enough for her not to be too afraid.

Lila flinched again though and stared willfully on the ground below us rather than me. "I… I, uh… I-I talked to daddy yesterday and… No, that's not the way to say this. Um…" she muttered. I was starting to reconsider my initial decision to let Lila say it herself. She seemed to have a lot of trouble getting the words out and I wondered if me opening up and admitting that I already knew would be easier for her. But then she seemed to make up her mind and looked seriously at me. "Arnold… I have been… hiding something from you and… and I want you to know that I am sorry, just ever so much, and I never meant to hurt you… The reason I… The reason I decided to go out with you was because I hoped that you could… that you could change me. I hoped it so much because you really deserve a girl who can love you, just ever so much. I don't want you to feel that there's something wrong with you. It's me, it really _is_ me."

Unsure of what else to say, I said the first thing that came to mind. "Are you breaking up with me?" I asked and felt my fingers tighten around the railing.

Lila took a deep breath and looked away. "Yes… but not because you aren't wonderful. You are, Arnold. You're kind, considerate, funny, you're brave and have a heart made of gold. I… I am just… I-I…" she stuttered and shut her eyes tightly. "Arnold, I like girls."

I had planned to force my eyes to widen as if I was surprised, but somehow I couldn't make myself do it. I felt like I was deceiving her. "I… had wondered that, actually." I admitted. I couldn't bring myself to lie to her after all. At least not that much.

Lila looked at me in surprise. "You did?"

I nodded solemnly. "I don't think there's anything wrong with being shy or waiting for a relationship to develop, but… you had little to no interest in me. At first I thought you were just being shy, but it's been four months." I explained lamely.

Lila looked at me curiously. "Is that the only reason you thought I'd might like girls?"

"Y-Yeah." I stuttered.

"Arnold, you are an ever so terrible liar." Lila said with a small, humorous smile. "You overheard me talking to Helga, didn't you?"

"I…" I started, but then sighed and turned around to lean on the railing. "Yes, I did."

Lila sighed in relief. "But you didn't confront me?"

"No, you said you would tell me yourself so I waited. I didn't have to wait as long as I thought." I said as jokily as I could.

Lila chuckled. "Well, I told daddy yesterday and he was just ever so supportive. He gave me courage to tell you as well." She responded. "I suppose you heard that already when I talked to Helga though."

"Yes, I did. And I'm glad it went well."

"Speaking of that… how much did you hear exactly?"

"Oh, um…" I started and sighed shamefully. "All of it."

Lila blushed a bit at my words. "Oh…" she whispered, but then shook her head and smiled at me. "Looking back, it might not have been too smart of me to tell her with you all standing nearby. Arnold, I want to say that I really am sorry once more."

"I know, Lila. It's ok… I was pretty shocked at first and maybe a little angry… but there's nothing I can do about it. Honestly… I think dating you has proved to me that you and I aren't meant for each other. Gay or not." I confessed and looked at the sky. "I think maybe we are too much alike in some ways."

"That's true. I suppose that also explains why we both like Helga." Lila said in an almost mischievous voice I hadn't heard before.

I blushed and looked at her. "E-Excuse me?"

"Oh, Arnold. We may be alike, but I am not as dull-witted as you are." Lila said with a knowing smile. "I've noticed the way you two look at each other and that kiss at the club obviously wasn't your first."

My cheeks flushed again. "Look at… each other?" I repeated.

Lila nodded. "I was ever so jealous at first… but now that I have thought about it, losing Helga to you is brilliant karma." She said with a giggle. "I think you two suit each other, just ever so much."

"Really?" I asked and looked at the sky again.

I could see Lila nod in my peripheral vision. "You're slow where Helga's observant. Helga is temperamental where you're calm. You're patient when she is… well _not_. I'd say you two make up for each other's flaws. Yet you also have a lot in common. You're both very loyal to your friends and go out of your way for them if needed. Neither of you have perfect families, but you love them just the same. Though Helga doesn't show it as much as you do of course. And you are both very forgiving."

"Helga, forgiving?" I repeated in surprise, but then thought about it. She had every reason to have been furious with me, but she hadn't punished me for it, nor had she made me fight for her forgiveness. Come to think of it, she might have been more forgiving than I ever was. "I guess you might be right… That's very kind of you to say, Lila. All things considered."

"Oh, I'm no fool, Arnold. I knew I never stood a chance with Helga. I just adore her really. She's an impressive girl." She said with a fond smile on her face.

"Yes, she is…" I agreed.

"Arnold, I know I'm in no position to ask for favors, but please do tell Helga about your feelings someday soon?" Lila asked. "I would hate to see you two continue to misunderstand each other."

I chuckled. "It's not as easy as it was with you, Lila. Helga is… Helga can be intimidating."

Lila giggled. "Surely you don't think she'd hurt you for telling her you like her?"

"No, I'm afraid that I've already missed my opportunity." I said. It didn't matter to me that Helga had already let me kiss her once that day; I still felt completely insecure in front of her. I felt inferior next to her, not good enough in any aspect. "I have said and done so many horrible things to her ever since we met."

"I think you think too lowly of yourself, Arnold." Lila said and put her hand on my shoulder. "Tell her honestly and I'm sure it'll go well. You saw how kindly she took to my confession, right?"

"That was different."

"How?"

"It just is." I contended stubbornly and sighed. "I guess I'm just afraid."

"You think I thought it was easy in comparison?" Lila teased. "It's not as scary as you think. It's kinda like jumping into a cold pool. Deep breath and then take the plunge."

"You're comparing Helga to a cold pool?"

"Don't tell her I did." Lila begged and we laughed together. It felt really good not to be so awkward with her. "Thank you for taking this so well, Arnold."

"Of course, Lila. Oh, and I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you… but I think might come out soon enough." Lila said and let go of the railing. "Well, I better go and actually get something to eat before lunch period is over. Want to join me?"

"No, thank you. I'll stay up here for a bit." I answered and waved at Lila as she went away. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It wasn't as hard letting go of Lila as I had thought. Maybe Gerald had been right about me liking the idea of Lila and not Lila herself. It almost felt good really; to get this constant pressure off my chest. I hadn't even realized I felt like that before it was gone. The sight of something blonde in my peripheral vision caused me to gasp and jolt as I looked at it. Helga was looking at me casually, her long hair flying around in the gentle wind. I looked at her suspiciously. "You've been here all along, haven't you?"

"Yep, just walked around that big block the door is in so you wouldn't notice me." Helga replied with a smirk.

"You're bad." I said with a smirk of my own.

"Interesting. Right before both you and Lila called me impressive."

"Oh, you are." I admitted and leaned a little closer to her. "But still dangerous."

"Which proves that I was right about Lila boring you." Helga replied and leaned dangerously closer to me as well.

"Yeah… no offense, but you really _are_ the opposite of Lila."

"I'm offended you'd think I'd be offended." Helga said with a sarcastic scowl. We started laughing right after and I shook my head.

"You shouldn't say that."

"You say that _after_ you laugh?"

"Mea culpa." I said and stuck my tongue out at her. She groaned sarcastically and chuckled again.

"Hey… is the wound too fresh or can I ask something about Lila?" Helga asked me.

"Uh… I think I can manage." I answered in confusion.

"I've been thinking… maybe it would benefit Lila to meet other girls like her. I don't think she knows a lot of gay girls so I thought I'd introduce her to some." Helga suggested softly.

"Are you gonna go matchmaker on her like you did with Eugene and Lorenzo?"

"Look how well that turned out!" Helga said in a chuckle. "But if you prefer for me to wait a bit with stuff like that, I will."

"No, no… I think it's a good idea. Who would you introduce her to though?" I asked with interest.

"Well, one of the girls you saw me with at Ernie's Pool Hall is gay. Maybe they'd hit it off." Helga suggested.

"One of those?" I asked in surprise as I remembered the punkish girls I had seen Helga with that night. "You sure Lila would like her?"

"Hey, she likes _me_. She's clearly got a type." Helga countered.

"Point taken… Just don't introduce her to someone who will lead her astray."

"Point taken." Helga agreed. "But don't worry, as dangerous as I am," she continued, turned around and leaned against the railing while gazing at me. "I'm not _lethal_."

I stared at Helga as she winked at me. The sight of her sent my heart soaring and I couldn't resist. I put my hand on the other side of Helga and trapped her between myself and the railing. She looked at me expectantly and I leaned forward to give her a soft kiss. I felt her put her hand on top of my own and this simple touched caused me to step closer to her. I decided not to push my luck though and stopped the kiss there. Helga looked at me for a moment before she put her hands on my cheeks and pulled me back into a much more passionate kiss than the one before. I gasped in surprise and put my arms around her to steady myself. My foot automatically ended between hers and I could feel her lift her leg up to caress mine delicately. I grabbed at her back desperately when I felt her tongue on my lips. It coiled around my own tongue and I made a shaky gasp at the sensation.

For no apparent reason, other than needing air, Helga and I stopped the kiss. I sighed breathlessly and stared at Helga for a moment before I tried talking. My voice was completely high-pitched though and Helga laughed in hilarity at that awful sound I had made that mostly resembled a voice that had yet to enter puberty. I coughed awkwardly and closed my eyes, hoping I could somehow disappear if I did that. When I felt Helga's hand in my hair though, I looked back at her only to close my eyes again when she kissed my cheek. As she looked at me, with that smoldering look in her eyes, I realized once again that I really was over the moon for her.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note:** **As I wrote this, I realized there's only two chapters left O_O Well, three if you count this one. I neared the ending before I realized xD Oh, well, it's been a good ride! And I think once this is over, I will finish a few one-shots and then maybe get into a longer project finally xD No promises! It really depends on what I'm in the mood for :P I'm currently debating two different long-term projects with myself, but I'll wait with deciding until this is over Cx**


	12. I continued what she had started

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Boring"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **After my inappropriate outburst at Helga, I wasn't sure how to make it up to her. Grandpa told me about a fight we had when we were kids though and I decided to follow my past self's example. When I met Helga in the library, she wasn't too happy to see me, but after I apologized and gave her the same flower I gave her when we were kids, she forgave me.**_

 _ **To my surprise, Lila's coming out to me started faster than I had imagined. After calling me to the roof, she confessed her feelings for Helga to me and apologized. I told her that I already had a feeling and that I wasn't angry with her which relieved her.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: I don't have much to say here honestly, except that I was totally stuck at the last scene for a couple of days. I couldn't figure out how I wanted to do it honestly because I didn't want it to resemble other similar scenes from my other stories, but I didn't want to go cray-cray either xD You'll know what I mean when you get there! :P**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 12: "I continued what she had started"

"It's like she's on a quest or something…" Helga mumbled as she and I stared at Lila in the cafeteria. I hummed in agreement. Since she had confessed to me that she was gay, she had gone on what could only be described as a coming-out-of-the-closet-galore. She was on a complete rampage, confessing to everyone she knew one-by-one that she was gay. She had started with the girls in our class, then the boys, whereas most of them had stared at me in sympathy. She had then continued to other students she talked to and even some teachers. She was almost going too far really, but she was so happy each time people showed support. Even if they didn't believe her, thought it was prank or told her it was disgusting and so not her style, she just smiled at them and continued to the next person. She definitely deserved credit for going from 0 to 10 in confidence about her sexuality. "It's getting ridiculous."

"She's ambitious, I guess." I said and turned my attention back to Helga. She noticed my staring and looked at me as well. Her eyes were asking me what I was thinking. "It's weird… I was so upset about it until recently, but now… now I'm kinda happy for her."

"You big sweetheart." Helga teased and pushed at my shoulder. "You'll be even happier for her once she gets a girlfriend then?"

"Maybe?" I suggested. I wasn't really sure, but the thought didn't bother me. "I'm just proud of her for having the courage to speak her feelings so clearly."

That was something I lacked. Even with everything that had happened, I had yet to clarify my feelings for Helga. She hadn't put it plainly to me either, but I knew she had feelings for me anyway. I wasn't sure if she was as sure about me though and it annoyed me to no extent that I hadn't said it already. I mean, maybe it didn't need to be said aloud, maybe she already knew and me saying it would be redundant, but I still felt like I should make it clear. Something was holding me back though and I wasn't sure if it was plain nervousness or something else.

"You bounced back quickly, eh?" Sid's voice said teasingly and I turned around to see him and the others boys smirking at me. "You sure changed types quickly, Arnold."

"Hi, I'm Harold!" Harold said and sat next to Helga who leaned away from him with a bit of a disturbed look on her face. Harold could be a pushy person after all and I assumed she was uncomfortable by the sudden presence of three strange boys.

"My name's Stinky." Stinky introduced himself and sat next to me.

"Sid." Sid introduced in a more cool manner and leaned closer to Helga who instantly leaned away from him and thereby closer to Harold who was already munching on his food and didn't even notice. Helga had obviously already figured out which of these three boys she should keep her guard up against.

"Sid, _darling_ ," Helga said sarcastically and put a hand up to herself and then about 3 feet away from herself. "this is my personal space. No one but Arnold is allowed inside."

I couldn't help but smile at her words despite how insulted my friend looked by her words. Luckily, Sid wasn't the type of boy to feel offended for a long time. "Tell us about yourself! We don't know shit about you."

"Well, except that you do ballet with Miss Lila." Stinky corrected.

"Oh, and that you were the first one to know that she was gay and crushing on you." Harold said with his mouth filled with food.

"G-Guys, would you please not interrogate her?" I begged in embarrassment.

"Oh, come on! You haven't told us anything about her, so we gotta ask her ourselves!" Sid complained.

I sighed simultaneously with Helga groaning. "Fine. One question each." She agreed, but she didn't seem to look forward to it at all.

The boys hummed thoughtfully, obviously thinking very hard about the one question they were allowed to ask. Helga looked at me curiously, probably completely amused by how embarrassed I looked.

"I know!" Harold declared with a snap. "What is it you like about Arnold?"

"You use your _one_ question on that?" Sid asked incredulously.

"I think I can figure out what kind of question _you'll_ be asking." Helga said, mostly to herself. "I can't answer that, Harold."

"Why not?"

"Look at him," Helga said and gestured to me. "if I say what I like about him, his head will just get even bigger."

While the boys laughed at Helga's words, I frowned at her. "Thanks, Helga."

"You're welcome, sweety." She said with an overly sugary smile. It still made my heart skip a beat to be called _sweety_ by her though. "Interrogation is over."

"What? But what about my question?" Sid whined.

"Too late." Helga insisted, stood up and grabbed her trey. She walked around the table and bent down when she reached me. "See you tonight." She whispered as she walked and then continued around me and away from us.

I must have had quite the love-smitten expression because the boys were smirking at me. "What?" I asked innocently.

"You look way happier with her than you ever did with Lila." Harold insisted.

"Really?" I asked with very little surprise. It definitely felt different with Helga than it did with Lila.

"Oh, yeah, and I don't blame you." Sid said and leaned backwards to catch a glimpse of Helga as she walked out of the cafeteria. He purred at the sight. "I bet she's dynamite in the sack."

"I guess Arnold will find out." Harold said teasingly and he laughed with the other boys.

I rolled my eyes at their comments, but truth was that it had already crossed my mind. Unlike with Lila, I didn't feel as if I was dirtying Helga by thinking of her that way. In fact, I was pretty sure that she wanted me to think of her like that if the way she had been flirting with me lately was any hint. She was definitely on my mind 24/7, be it at day or night. I started smiling to myself in the cafeteria as I sank into another fantasy of her, ignoring my friends' teasing.

* * *

I was humming to myself as I fiddled with the tie around my neck. It was my first date with Helga tonight and I was really looking forward to it, but I was also nervous as heck. I was wearing my blue dress shirt, a black tie, shoes and pants. When I had asked her to go out with me, she hadn't been too keen on the idea at first. She probably didn't like the idea of a stereotypical date where the guy asked the girl out first, but she had just rolled her eyes at me and agreed that I could pick her up at 7pm. It meant the world to me that she was trying for my sake though I wouldn't have minded her asking me out. I was probably just too eager to wait for her.

The sound of the doorbell ringing caught my ears and I looked towards the door in confusion. Grandpa and grandma were out on one of their monthly dinner dates so I had to leave my room to see who was at the door. It was 6:30 anyway so I figured I had enough time if it was someone who wanted to talk. I jogged down the stairs and ran to the door. When I opened it, I was met with the sight of Helga. At first, all I could see was _her_ ; her hair was loose and slightly curled. She was wearing a knitted, light pink dress with a black belt around her stomach. The dress had long sleeves, but was cut in a straight line above her breasts. Her neck was decorated with a pink bow that I recognized only a bit from when I first met her. Her legs were covered in thick, black stockings and she was wearing a pair of wedged, black ankle boots. She had a black coat over her arms and it was then that I noticed she was out of breath and her skin was shimmering with rain droplets.

"Helga?" I said questioningly. "I-I thought I was going to pick you up at 7pm? Did I misunderstand?"

"N-No, you didn't." Helga answered and sniffed from the cold. "I, um… Look, Bob is having one of his usual fits, something about one of his clients backing out of a deal and Miriam told me to get out of there. The last time I didn't listen to her and ended up with a sore arm."

"He _hurt_ you?!"

"Just that once, it's not a common occurrence and I was in one of my own foul moods so I was pretty provoking." Helga explained a shivered a bit. "I'd usually go to Matt's apartment when this happens, but… yeah."

"I'm sure he'd love for you to show up and prove that you're still friends." I responded and then stepped to the side to invite her in.

"Doubtful." Helga replied with a smile as she stepped inside, sighing in happiness at the warmth. "It's so cold, why is it raining and not snowing?"

"Why do you think he wouldn't be happy?" I asked and grabbed at Helga's coat. She smiled at me as I slid it off her.

"I'm not exactly his favorite person at the moment. I, uh… I told him about everything that had happened. About Lila, you and me… He was less than happy."

I sighed. "What happened?" I asked worriedly.

Helga swung her arms around awkwardly and turned to look at me. "He gave this long speech about how he didn't understand why I didn't have any feelings for him because we're so alike, have so much in common and yadda-yadda-yadda." She explained.

"Sounds familiar." I muttered to myself and Helga looked at me questioningly. "I think I said the same thing to Lila when we were kids."

"Oh, yeah?" Helga asked with a smirk. "What did she say to that?"

"That I just didn't have that special something she was looking for."

"Huh… I guess you now know what that special something was." Helga said mischievously.

I looked at her in confusion before I realized what she was referring to and groaned. "Helga!" I scolded in embarrassment, but couldn't help but laugh with her. "So, you're not in the mood to go out?"

Helga shook her head. "Not in that weather. Can we stay in though? I still want to be with you." She said with a sweet smile that made me smile as well.

"Sure."

* * *

"I can't believe you've done synchronized swimming." Helga said to me as she pointed at the picture of me posing with the other boys at the pool. "And in little cowboy outfits!"

I had been blushing as soon as Helga had turned the page and seen that picture, but the color had yet to fade away. "I-It's not like we chose those outfits ourselves."

"Sure, blame it on your coach. Was he gay as hell or something?"

"No, he's actually married to a woman. I was his best man."

"When you were _9_?" Helga asked in disbelief and I nodded. "Wow, you've done a lot of things in just one year of your life."

"I sought out adventure when I could."

"Except for when you were looking for girls." Helga teased and bumped her shoulder against mine.

"Oh, I don't know… Lila may have been a bit of a sidestep in the aspect, but she did lead me to you, didn't she?" I asked with a fond smile on my face.

Helga smiled back at me. "Good point." She said in a low voice and then her eyes looked at me in that way that made my heart swell in excitement. In a moment the photo album was forgotten and I was leaning closer to her. She was about to close her eyes when something caught her eyes and she looked up. I barely managed to look up as well before she gasped in happiness. "It's snowing!"

Helga turned around and crawled across my bed and I had to look away to keep myself in check. She stood up and crawled on the homemade steps in my wall until she reached the skylight. She started fiddling with the hasp, but it didn't open. I snickered as I stood up as well and crawled up until I was right behind her. I helped her open the hasp and got only a second to marvel in our closeness before she was already on the roof. I followed her, excited like a kid by seeing the snow.

Helga ran to the stone railing and looked up. "I guess it'll be a white Christmas after all." She stated happily.

"Careful." I warned her and put my arm around her hips to hold her back. The image of her pummeling to her death in her delight wasn't a good one to me.

"Oh, relax! We survived being stuck in a roller coaster, didn't we?"

"That's kinda apples and oranges, isn't it?" I asked, but she just stuck her tongue out at me before she gazed at the snow-filled sky again.

There was something undeniably magical about this moment; Helga and I up on the roof, watching the snow together and Helga looking absolutely stunning in the way only she could. A thought crossed my mind and I hoped she didn't hear me gulp. I bit on my lower lip and tried to collect enough courage, but the words were stuck in my throat. Then I remembered Lila's words: _Deep breath and take the plunge_. I took a deep breath and then spoke Helga's name. She made a low hum to tell me that she was listening, but that was all she did. She kept looking at the snow as if enchanted when I spoke.

"I love you."

Helga kept looking at the snow for a moment before she blinked and then she was staring at me. I didn't say anything, couldn't say anything. She was at a loss for words too and I noticed how heavily she was breathing from hearing me say the words. Something told me that she of course already knew, but to hear me say it was probably something unexpected. I had to say it though, _I_ needed to say it and she needed to hear it. No more misunderstanding, no more half-assed feelings. I had to make it clear.

Helga exhaled slowly and looked back at the town. "I guess I'll go home now." She stated much too simply after having just been told that I love her. I agreed that it was getting late, but was confused by the sudden decision.

"Why?" I asked, but I wasn't sure what I was asking about exactly.

"Arnold," Helga said gently and turned her body around in my arm until her hand was on my cheek. "you just told me you loved me." she stated and leaned forward to plant a very loving kiss on my lips. I didn't have the time to close my eyes before she had already leaned back. She then smirked at me and clapped my cheek. "You can only screw it up from here."

Helga walked past me with those words and I stared at the place she had just been in front of me. My face twisted into a frown and I tapped my fingers on the railing in disbelief. _Incredible_ , I thought in slight annoyance, but there was something inside me that was also laughing. What had I expected from Helga after all? That she'd throw herself in my arms and swear her everlasting love? Not likely. This response was so very her. Mean, but playful.

"Hey, Arnold?" Helga said behind me and I turned to see her sitting near the ladder to the emergency exit. "Leave your skylight unlocked tonight."

I looked at said skylight in confusion before I looked back at her. "Why?" I wondered.

"Just do it." Helga replied, swung her leg over the railing and then crawled out of my sight, leaving me wondering what she could possibly be planning.

* * *

I wasn't sure when I finally fell asleep, only that I had been lying awake for quite a while, half-expecting Helga to pop up out of nowhere at any moment. She told me to leave the skylight unlocked for a reason surely, but I just couldn't figure out what she would do. I had fallen asleep waiting for something to happen though, but was starting to wake up when something tickled my wrists. It was something silky and the feeling confused me enough to wake me up just in time to hear the sound of fabric rustling. It took me a while, but when my vision was finally restored, I could see a person hovering above me. My first thought was to panic, but the person leaned down and kissed me, successfully silencing the scream I had planned to make. The familiarity of the lips caused me to relax.

A tongue grazed my lips just before it disappeared again. "Thank you for not locking the skylight." A familiar, female voice said. I looked up groggily at my hands and saw something pink that did not belong in my bed. I tried moving my arms, but the soft fabric was holding me in place.

"W-What is that?" I asked as confusion consumed my face. The time it took for my voice to go from sleep-muddled to fully awake was about two seconds when I finally realized my situation; I was in my bed, tied to the bedpost and Helga was sitting on top of me. Something told me I should have seen this coming. "Is that your bow?"

"Oh, you remember it?" Helga asked and played with the fabric gleefully. "Olga has always bought me pink bows so I guess they have kinda become my signature accessory."

The feeling of Helga's fingertips caressing my inner wrists sent a shiver down my spine. "Why are you doing this?" I asked lamely, unsure what else to say. It wasn't like I had ever imagined this scenario before and had prematurely planned what to say if it would ever happen.

"Why?" Helga repeated curiously and hummed mockingly. "Because I can… because I wanted to see your baffled face when I did…" she listed and leaned down to peck my lips before she looked at me sultrily. "Because I _want_ to."

The promise in Helga's words caused a lump to grow in my throat. I swallowed it soundly and opened my mouth to make sure that I could breathe both through my throat and nose. I didn't trust myself with only one breathing option at the moment. I had never expected myself being tied up like this, especially not by a girl like Helga. Then again, nothing about Helga was expected. What was more unexpected though was that despite that surge of anxiety that went through me at the thought of Helga being able to do anything to me since I was helpless like this, I also felt some smoldering desire at the same thought. It seemed kind of twisted to be able to feel two such contradicting emotions at the same time. I don't think the boys had expected me to find out whether Helga was dynamite in the sack or not so soon either.

"Oh, and I also want to punish you, of course." Helga suddenly added and I quirked an eyebrow at her. "For leaving me high and dry back then."

I chuckled nervously. "I-I thought you forgave me for that?"

"Oh, I did." Helga said without a hint of hesitation or sarcasm. Her hand started tracing down my chest which I suddenly became very aware of was naked. That was of course my own handiwork, but I had forgotten about it until now. "But I don't forget. Thing is, Arnold… I don't get angry, I get _even_."

That made me gulp once more. "I forgot how mean you can be." I said as I twisted my upper body under her touch.

"It's a good thing I'm going to remind you then."

"Y-You're not gonna leave me like this for my grandpa to find me… right?" I asked unsteadily.

"Leave you? Oh, no, no, no, Arnold…" Helga said with a gleeful smirk and leaned forward until all I could was her eyes. "Tying you up and just leaving you like this would be… such a waste."

My eyes expanded for a mere second before Helga's lips were devouring my own and my eyes closed out of reflex. I sighed through my nose and twitched when I felt her hands on my chest. They roamed around in wavy patterns until she reached my hips and I twitched again. She grabbed my chin unceremoniously and wrenched my mouth open, forcing her tongue between my teeth and into my mouth. I moaned in surprise and felt my hands wiggle against their restraints. I yelped around her tongue when the tips of her fingers crawled inside the hem of my boxers. They didn't move any further though as she leaned back up and looked at me.

I couldn't open my eyes fully, my head was too clouded to do anything properly. I had gotten used to the darkness though and could finally see Helga somewhat properly thanks to the moonlight. She had her hair loose, which I had already figured out since it tickled as she kissed me, and she was already in her underwear. I briefly wondered where the rest of her clothes were because she probably didn't walk back here like that in the snow. When her arms disappeared behind her though and I guessed that she was about to unhook her bra, I couldn't care less about any other type of clothing.

"Oh, boy, you are way too transparent." Helga teased and moved a hand back to her mouth and snickered soundlessly.

I huffed in embarrassment and looked away. "W-What did you expect? How did you think I'd react to… _this_?" I asked with a childish pout.

Helga hummed. "Good point." She agreed in a low voice before she let the straps of her bra fall down and I inhaled sharply. Her breasts were perfect, but I wasn't sure why. Maybe it was just because they belonged to Helga. "Sheesh… take a picture, Football Head."

"I can't." I replied simply and wiggled my hands. Helga made an awkward smile and rolled her eyes. It was clear that despite the confidence in her actions, she was still a half-naked girl on top of a boy for the first time in her life. It would be shocking if she didn't feel at least a little nervous. It was probably nowhere close to how I felt though.

Helga bit on her lower lip for a second, smirking at me. I was about to ask her what she was thinking when the answer came rolling down on me, literally. Her hips were swaying around on my own and was massaging me into hardness. I made a sound that was a mix of a gasp and groan, as if I couldn't decide which sound to focus on. I threw my head back as she put more pressure into her grinding and her fingers sprawling on my lower stomach added to the sensation. I could feel my fingers digging into my palms, but it wasn't enough to distract me from what Helga was doing, not that I wanted it to. I could feel my fingers start to feel prickly though and up till now, I had no idea that your fingers could actually itch from desire. I wanted to touch her, but something told me she wasn't likely to let me do that. Not yet at least.

Helga lifted one of her legs and put it behind her elegantly. The other followed suit, but before she put it back down on the bed, she used it to spread my legs around hers. I couldn't help but feel rather exposed like that, until now she hadn't been looking at me after all, but she quickly leaned down to plant a flowerbed of kisses on my chest. I tried to stay still, but my breathing was getting harder and whenever she found a spot that made me moan, she kept kissing it for a while, letting her tongue caress it as well before she moved on. This was bittersweet torture at its highest and Helga was too fit for this.

Once Helga had reached my boxer shorts though, she moved back up and started licking my throat and neck sloppily. Her fingers continued where her mouth had stopped and her fingers went under the hem of my boxers once again. I made an involuntary spasm against her fingers and noticed how she lifted them gently over my hard-on so that I wouldn't feel any discomfort. It was an oddly kind gesture when you thought about how she had started this with tying me up without my knowledge.

Once the cold air hit my now naked erection, I shivered a bit. Helga leaned up and looked at me with slight worry in her eyes. "Am I… being too ambitious?"

"Huh?" I mumbled in a voice that was more than lust-filled.

Helga cocked her head curiously to the side before she smiled. "I guess not." She responded to her own question before one of her fingers traced the underside of my hard-on. The ghostly gesture sent a shiver down my spine and I arched my back into her touch. She repeated the motion a couple of times before she moved her finger up to play with the head. She circled it playfully before she wrapped her fingers around the shaft and let her thumb continue on the head.

"H-Helga!" I groaned in disbelief. How could it feel _this_ different from my own hand? How could her touch be so nerve wrecking and desirable? It wasn't like I could find an answer to my questions and I didn't have time to search for them either, so I just continued whimpering incoherent words that not even I understand.

"What was that, Arnold?" Helga asked mockingly before her hand disappeared from my skin. I sighed in both relief and frustration and opened my eyes when I felt some other skin. Helga was looking at me as her cheek was resting on my hips and the sight made me moan.

"P-Please…" I begged without knowing exactly what I was asking for.

"Please what?" she asked innocently and I cursed her name.

"You know what." I insisted.

"No, I don't." she said and let her finger roam around on my boner absentmindedly. "I can think of a few things you'd be begging for at this point, but I don't know which one."

I looked up at the pink fabric. "Take this off." I decided.

"Nu-uh. Try again, Football Head." Helga denied and kissed my smaller head which caused me to groan.

"Th-That!" I decided upon.

"This?" Helga asked innocently and kissed me again. I nodded eagerly and she continued kissing at every single place she could until I was wet from the lips.

"Your…" I started saying groggily.

"My…?" Helga probed and I knew she already knew what I was asking for. She just wanted to hear me say it.

"Your tongue…" I pleaded. Helga smirked before her tongue slithered out between her lips and I threw my head back when it made contact with my engorged organ. I could hear the wood on my bedpost complain as I wiggled against my restraints. My hands were starting to feel sore, but that wasn't why I wanted to be untied. "You."

Helga looked at me in slight surprise; she obviously hadn't expected me to ask for something again already. "Me?" she questioned sincerely.

"I want _you_." I verified with muzzy, lust-filled eyes. The surprise and shyness on Helga's face was evident and if the lights had been on, I knew I would have seen a blush on her cream-colored cheeks. She hummed playfully as she started playing with her panties.

"I don't know… Have you really learned your lesson?" Helga asked and pulled at the panties to uncover her hips.

"I-I have!" I insisted fervently.

"So you promise not to leave me unsatisfied anymore?" she asked and swayed her hips as she pulled the panties down. She was leaning forward while doing this so I couldn't see anything but her face and her wiggling waist behind it.

"Yes!" I replied dead-honestly. After all this, she would have trouble ever getting me off her.

"And when I say the word you'll be there?"

"Yes."

"Really?" Helga asked as if she didn't believe me, but I knew she was just prolonging this to torture me. "Let's rehearse. Arnold?"

"Y-Yes?"

" _Now_." She whispered in a voice that was raspy from her own desire and she lifted her knees to get out of her panties. I saw them fly away somewhere in my room, but my eyes were instantly back on Helga when I felt her straddle my lap again. "I guess you've been a good boy, letting me have my way with you…" she stated and put her hands on my cheeks, looking at me more seriously. "Do you want me, Arnold?"

"More than you know." I answered without hesitation. It was the truth after all.

My response surprised Helga enough to make her eyebrows arch for a mere second, but then she smiled. "I want you too." she said, gave me a chaste kiss on my lips and then leaned back up. She took a deep breath and grabbed my hardness in her fingers. I was slightly surprised that she hadn't decided to unfasten my wrists. Did she really want to do this on her own? Before I could ask her, she had already pushed herself on me and I gasped loudly at this unfamiliar, tight and hot feeling.

When I finally regained my senses enough to open my eyes, I saw that Helga had a bit of pain on her face. It wasn't as much as when she had to walk around on her sprained ankle though. "A-Are you ok?" I asked, trying to ignore how embarrassingly gruff my own breath sounded.

"Yeah… but you're definitely bigger than my own fingers." Helga replied with a husky chuckle. "Well, doi…"

"Helga," I said seriously when I saw that her shoulders were shaking. She looked at me through half-lidded eyes. "Untie me, please. Not for my sake, but for yours."

I could see that Helga wanted to argue against me, probably because of her pride. She wanted to tell me that she wasn't so weak that she couldn't do this, but she looked at my hands considerately. Determinedly, she leaned above me to untie the knots around my hands. Her breasts were hovering over my face and I couldn't help but close my eyes and kiss one of them gently. My action made Helga jolt and she stayed still for a moment before she continued untying my hands. I started kissing her chest though and started licking wherever I could reach.

"I-I can't untie you like this!" Helga said with a breathless giggle just before I felt my hands come loose. Despite my initial instinct to nurse the soreness in my wrists away, I instead wrapped my arms around Helga's waist and lifted the both of us up in a sitting position. I could feel her tense around me in surprise, but I continued making soothing patterns of kisses on her chest. Her hand went to my head, her fingers tangling with my hair in appreciation. Hearing her moan made it more than worthwhile to stay still inside of her. I'd do anything to make the pain lessen. Then a thought occurred to me.

"Wait… Wasn't that extremely painful?" I asked and leaned back to look at Helga. "I mean… it's not like I did anything to you so… wasn't it, I mean, uh - - "

"I kinda…" Helga said and scratched her cheek in shyness. "I kinda prepared myself before I got over here. I mean, I knew I'd be tying you up so I just did it to make sure. It would probably have hurt like a son of a bitch if I hadn't."

"Pre… pared yourself?" I repeated and blinked with every syllable. My mind went straight to the gutter, images of Helga on her bed, moaning as she touched herself while thinking of what she was going to do to me later. It was Helga smacking me at the back of my head that brought me back to reality. She was smirking at me knowingly and I shrugged innocently. "Hey, what did you expect?"

"Well, getting that bow off you sure did wonders to your nervousness, Football Head." Helga said before she pushed me back on the bed. "Don't think I'm done with you or that you're suddenly gonna be the one on top. _I'm_ still in charge. Got it?"

I smirked back at Helga before I grabbed her at her hips and bucked up against her, eliciting a moan from her swollen lips. "Whatever you say, Helga." I agreed before I continued what she had started.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: Next chapter is last! Boohoo! But it's been a good ride and I'm looking forward to declare another story finished and finish some one-shots as well :D**


	13. So this is happiness

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Boring"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **At Helga's and my first date, I finally collected the courage to tell her that I loved her. Her reaction to it was exactly what I had expected, but it surprised me when she told me to leave the skylight unlocked. When I woke up to myself being tied to my bedpost, I realized why. After some bittersweet, torturous foreplay Helga and I made love for the first time.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: Last chapter… Feels weird, as always. My last author's note has a small spoiler for you for my next long-term story (when I say small spoiler, I do mean** _ **small**_ **. You'll know nothing serious until I write the first chapter xD) But for now, happy reading! :D**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 13: "So this is happiness"

I woke up rather slowly and sighed in happiness when the memories from the night before came soaring through my mind. I smiled as I reached out, expecting to touch Helga's hair or skin, but I was met with the usual fabric on my bed. I forced my eyes open and saw that she was gone. I looked around in my room and there wasn't a trace of her. For a moment, I wondered if it had all been a dream until I saw something very out of place on my floor; a pair of light pink, laced panties. I blushed as I stepped out of my bed, quickly pulling my boxers over my hips and then grabbed the panties. Those were definitely Helga's, I hadn't seen them properly in the darkness, but they sure weren't mine.

 _So it wasn't a dream_ , I thought with a crooked smile. I was pretty sure she wouldn't forget her panties, so it only made sense that she had left them on purpose. I shook my head in good humor before I heard a knock on the door. I gasped and put the panties behind my back just in time for Gerald to pop in.

"Hi, buddy! Uh, did I wake you?" he asked when he saw how little clothes I was wearing.

"Uh, n-no, but I did just wake up a second ago." I said awkwardly.

Gerald looked at me suspiciously. "What are you hiding behind your back?" he asked with narrowed eyes. I briefly considered lying or trying to hide them properly, but I knew Gerald would never let me go before he found out what it was, so I moved my hand away from my back and showed him the panties. He went bug-eyed. "No way! Those are Helga's?"

"Yes…" I answered in embarrassment.

"So you two…?" Gerald probed and I nodded with a meek grin. "Congratulations! Last night at your date, I guess?"

I tilted my head to the side. "Not… _really_ at our date." I said with a secretive smile.

"Not at your date?" Gerald asked with a smirk and crossed his arms. "You're gonna have to tell me about this. And we need to celebrate it! Put some clothes on, we're going out!"

* * *

When I told Gerald about Helga's surprise, as modestly as I could of course, he was crazy with jealousy. He called me a lucky guy and I knew that I was for several other reasons as well. I couldn't believe how I could have gone from despising Helga to fall so madly in love with her. Life was strange that way I supposed.

Days went by and Christmas was approaching. I hung out with my friends through most of the holiday and Helga would tag along sometimes. She got along with the guys fantastically thanks to her somewhat boyish nature and I just felt so happy whenever I was with her. She made me happy in a way I never knew I could be. One day when we had all hung out as well, Helga seemed to have been smiling more at me than usual. When I asked her about it though, she just shook her head and pretended she didn't know what I was talking about. I knew there was a meaning behind that undying smile though, but I figured she just didn't want to admit that she was as happy as I was.

It wasn't until I came home, I realized why Helga had been smirking at me like that all day. I walked into the hallway and started taking my coat off when I heard my grandpa calling my name. He asked me to come into the living room in a strange voice I hadn't heard before. I got a little worried so I put my shoes down in a hurry and jogged into the living room. He was sitting in his usual chair with grandma in the chair next to his. Someone else was in the room though, sitting on the couch with their backs turned to me. I could see some blonde hair on one of them and some brown on the other one, both having short hair.

Grandpa nodded towards me to the strangers. I wanted to step around the couch to see who it was that had my grandpa so tongue-tied, but I was frozen to the spot. Time seemed to stand still as the two adults turned around and I saw their faces. It was like looking at one of those few pictures I always stared at on October the 5th. The day my parents left. I didn't understand how, but those familiar pictures had somehow come alive and were sitting on my couch in my living room as if they belonged there.

"Arnold." the woman said in a quiet, disbelieving voice and put her hand up to her mouth. She was on the verge of tears and so was the man, but all I could do was stare at them. It was like my brain had turned off and all I could comprehend was that the people I had all those pictures of had somehow jumped out of them and were right in front of me.

"Arnold," grandpa said and I moved my head mechanically to look at him. "they are your parents. Stella and Miles."

I looked back at the two adults, knowing full well that they looked almost identical to the people in the pictures. They were older though and seemed tired and dirty. It was Stella who moved to stand first and walked to me shakily. It was like she was afraid that I'd disappear if she made any sudden movements. Once she was close enough, she put a hand on my cheek and eyed me for a long time. She couldn't believe that I was standing right in front of her either.

"M-Mom?" I asked shakily. She made a small gasp at being called that and then nodded. "Mom!"

I sprung into the woman's arms and she held me so tightly that I could hardly breathe. I looked towards the man who was walking towards us as well and I stretched out my arm for him. He wrapped his arms around us both and I held them both closely as we fell to our knees. We were a pile of sobs and shivers and it was like my head could only understand one thing; my parents had come home.

I'm not sure for how long we cried while hugging each other, but I suddenly found myself in the couch between them both. My mom was holding my hand and my dad had a hand on my shoulder as they told me about what had happened in San Lorenzo. On their way to the Green Eyed Village, their plane had crashed and their friend Eduardo had died in the accident. My parents were lucky to have been able to survive for long enough to find the Green Eyes by themselves. By the time they got there, they had to be nursed back to health before they could get to work and figure out an antidote for the deadly sleeping sickness that had been plaguing the Green Eyes for more than a year at that point. It took years to find an antidote, make it work as it should and to finally cure everyone of the sickness and make sure it wouldn't infect them again. By then, my parents' problem was to find a way home. The plane had crashed and Eduardo, their only contact to civilization was dead. It meant that they were stuck there until someone would happen to come by and the Green Eyed village wasn't a place people took a stroll.

"How did you get home?" I asked as I looked between my parents, unsure who to look at. I wanted to look at them both all the time, but I didn't want to let go of them either.

"A pilot came to the Green Eyed village, saying he had been looking for us for months." My mom replied in a smile of disbelief. "We couldn't believe it."

"But… how?" I asked in dissatisfaction. I had waited for them for so many years, I couldn't accept someone popping up out of nowhere, bringing them home and not letting me thank him.

"He said that someone hired him to track you down. The person even gave him a picture of a map of San Lorenzo. God knows how that person found it!" my dad answered in complete disbelief akin to my mom's.

"But… who send the pilot there? Who had pictures of a map of San Lorenzo?" I asked in confusion.

"We have no idea. The pilot said the person wished to be anonymous." My mom said. "I wish I knew who it was too, honey. I want to thank them for letting me come back to my son."

She kissed the top of my head as she said that and I smiled for a second. It faded soon after that though. I felt so many emotions towards the person who had brought my parents back to me. Utter happiness was one of them, but I also felt frustration because I didn't know who it was. I wanted to thank them, I wanted to tell them what an amazing thing they had done for me and my parents. Why would they choose to be anonymous?

"Well!" grandpa said and leaned back in the couch. "It's a good thing _we_ know who it was, eh, Short man?"

I looked at him in confusion, as did my parents. "We do?" I asked.

Grandpa blinked at me, sighed and pointed at my dad. "Miles, I blame _you_ for this boy's denseness!" he declared and then looked back at me. "Who do we know that has enough money to hire a private detective and pilot who also happens to have seen the map to San Lorenzo?" he said in a loud, somewhat sneering voice.

I blinked a couple of times before a name came crashing down on me. "You think - - "

"I _know_." Grandpa corrected me. I jumped out of the couch instantly and ran to the hallway.

"Where are you going, Arnold?" my dad asked behind me.

"I'm going to see the person who brought you back to me!" I replied as I struggled with my boot. Thank God it was just the kind that had to be pulled on because I had never felt more in a hurry in my life.

"You know who?" my mom asked as she and my dad appeared in the doorframe with my grandpa and grandma.

"I-I have a very strong feeling." I answered and swung my coat around my arms. I kept telling myself that there was no way my grandpa could be right about this, but it was the only person who made sense.

"It's his girlfriend." Grandpa said with a teasing neigh in his voice.

"Girlfriend?" my parents asked in excited voices.

I blushed under their intense stares. "She's… I-It's new." I insisted. "But I guess not really…"

"He's known her since they were 3-years-old." Grandpa said with a toothless grin.

"But we only met again recently!" I insisted without knowing why. I sighed; I didn't have the time to discuss this right now. "I-I have to go and see her and find out if she really was the one who got you here. I-I'll be back soon, ok?"

"Please bring her back here." My mom said and took my hand. "We want to thank her too. And we want to meet her, of course."

A broad smile spread on my face and I nodded. Once I had opened the door though, a thought struck me and I turned to give my grandpa a warning look. "Don't go into too much detail, ok, grandpa?" I requested. He waved his hands innocently as if agreeing, but as soon as I closed the door, I could hear him talk excitedly. With a small sigh, I started running towards Helga's house.

My hair felt empty and to the brink with thoughts at the same time. Was it possible that Helga had done this? Had she really enough money to have made my dream come true? Had she really spent it on _me_ when she could have spent it on herself? If the pilot had been looking for my parents for months, that meant she had hired him months before all this. It must have been back when she looked at the map. Could she really have decided to do such an amazing thing for me back then? Back before I fell in love with her, while I was still pining for Lila? It seemed so unreal.

I was completely out of breath when I reached Helga's house and rang the doorbell. "I'll get it!" I heard Helga's voice yell from inside the house and I quickly ran my hand through my hair and readjusted my clothes before she opened the door. She looked at me in slight surprise, but then smiled. "Arnold? What are you doing here?"

"My parents…" I said and took a breath to calm myself down. "My parents have come home."

Helga's eyes widened in shock and then she grinned widely at me. "Really?!" she asked in excitement and wrapped her arms around me. "That's amazing, Arnold! And just in time for Christmas too!"

"Yeah… I guess I have a Christmas angel watching out for me." I said suggestively. She leaned back and I could see the suspicion in her eyes. "It was you, right?" I asked. "You… You're the only one who has seen the map, you're the only one who could have done this."

Helga let her hands fall away from my shoulders and crossed her arms. "You're welcome." She stated dismissively.

"Welcome?!" I repeated in disbelief. "Helga, you've spent who knows how much money to hire a pilot to go and find my parents who have been lost in the jungle for years and you're saying I'm welcome?!"

"Arnold!" Helga said and stepped outside, closing the door behind her. "There's a reason I asked to be anonymous. I don't want to get into a huge, mushy thank you scene. I don't know what to do in situations like that, so just accept the _you're welcome_ and go back to your parents."

"Well, I want to get into a big thank you scene!" I shouted back and Helga rolled her eyes. "Do you have any idea what you've done for me? Year after year, I've been pining for my parents. Had nightmares about what happened to them, dreamt about them coming home. I've been waiting and praying that they would come home and now they're here. They were sitting in my living room, alive and well, and I have you to thank for that… Do you have any idea what… you've done for me?"

Despite having cried for so long earlier, I could feel tears prickling at the corners of my eyes again. Helga sighed when I put my hands up to my face. "I can _see_ what I've done for you. You weren't even this emotional when you found out your dream girl was gay."

"What dream girl?" I asked and looked at Helga. I huffed. "Lila? No way… It took me a long time to realize it, but _you_ are my dream girl, Helga. I never thought you would be, but you are and not just because of this. You're - - "

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm a mountain spring, a summer breeze and still can't handle cheesy moments." Helga interrupted.

I wanted to say so much more, but I forced myself to hold it in. "How did you do it?" I decided to ask instead.

Helga looked away awkwardly. "I lied." She said. "When I told you that Bob was angry about losing a client before our first date… He had actually just realized that I had taken enough money from his account to pay for the pilot's expenses."

My eyes widened. "You stole from your dad?"

"Don't tell me you wish I hadn't?"

"No! No…" I admitted. "But how didn't he find out until now?"

"He doesn't check his account until he needs to know what's in it. He's stupid like that. He's probably changed the code now though so don't expect any other expensive favors from me." Helga explained with a smirk.

My shoulders slumped. "You're amazing, Helga." I told her truthfully.

"Yeah, yeah, you're head over heels for me, completely devoted and can't imagine life without me. I got it." Helga said playfully and opened her front door again. "Go home to your parents, Football Head. You've got _a lot_ of catching up to do."

I knew that Helga was right and I also wanted to get back to them as well. "Thank you, Helga." I said casually. "Was that un-mushy enough for you?"

"It'll do." Helga said and stepped inside, but then turned around. "Hey… if you don't have any other plans as such then… then you can come to the recital with your grandparents and parents. There's also gonna be a party afterwards if you want to that is."

"The recital?" I asked in slight confusion, but then remembered that _Princess Tutu_ 's premiere was at Christmas eve. "We'll be there!" I declared. "We'll definitely be there!"

Helga grinned at me. "Good because I already reserved your seats. You're gonna have to sit next to my parents and Olga though, just so you're warned."

"I can manage if it means to see you as Kraehe." I teased and stepped up on the stoop. Despite her warnings about cheesy scenes, I couldn't leave before kissing her. I caressed her neck with my fingers and she sighed into the kiss. This was the most wonderful feeling in the world, I was sure.

"Merry Christmas, Arnold." Helga whispered with a loving smile before she walked inside and closed the door.

I sighed happily before I decided to go home. "Merry Christmas, Helga."

* * *

When I told my parents that my girlfriend was the one who had brought them back, they were more than happy to be told about the recital on Christmas Eve. I spent every waking moment with my parents on the days up to Christmas. We were all oddly nervous about going to Circle Theater together. My parents were nervous about dressing up and going out in public after 15 years of being in the jungle. I was nervous about them meeting Helga and so were they, once I confessed that. My grandparents were the only ones who were completely calm about the whole thing.

Once we were inside and had gotten to our seats, I noticed Lila's dad down the front row. I waved at him awkwardly, but he smiled at me casually and waved back. The first two rows in the theater were obviously reserved for family because I could easily see who were the parents of both Justin and Matt; they were both splitting images of their parents. I sat awkwardly next to Bob who didn't recognize me until I introduced myself. As soon as the orphan comment came back, my parents introduced themselves as well and Bob was shocked to see them right before him. I couldn't wait to tell Helga about how funny his face had looked when he realized that my parents were alive and well.

"Promise us, Arnold," my dad whispered to me. "you'll tell us who it is as soon as she is on."

"Trust me, just wait for his face to get love-struck and you'll know." Grandpa snickered.

"Grandpa!" I sneered in embarrassment and hoped that Bob hadn't heard him. He obviously hadn't and seemed to be more focused on the fact that Olga was Nika were here. With that being said, he hadn't said a single word to them since she had requested that they switched seats so that she and Nika could be next to us. I had a feeling that she had done that for my sake so I didn't have to feel the pressure of him next to me. I had thanked both her and Nika for it, and Nika beamed when I had signed to her.

A hush came over the audience when the lights dimmed. I sat on the edge of the seat, excited for the recital to begin. Olga nudged at me playfully and something told me that Helga had probably told her what had happened between us. It made me a little shy to think about her knowing about us, but I was also very grateful. It was thanks to her that we met as kids after all. Who knows if we would have fallen in love if it hadn't been for that?

The sound of something resembling raindrops falling to a calm beat echoed in the room. I recognized the melody as _Morning Grace_ , the opening theme for the story. Lila stepped out to the stage and I noticed my parents looking at me. I rolled my eyes when I realized that they were looking for the love-struck expression my grandpa had told them about. They looked back at the stage though after confirming that Lila wasn't the girl. Justin came out on the stage and Lila moved around him, showing clearly that her character, Tutu, was in love with him. Then Matt appeared as well, stepping between Lila and Justin as if to protect him from her. Justin had a neutral look on his face through the whole thing since his heart was supposed to have already been lost.

Then Helga stepped out on the scene in that black costume. I knew that I was staring at her when I heard my dad lean closer to my mom and told her that it was obviously Helga who had just stepped out on the stage. I blushed at how obviously love-smitten I must have looked since he didn't even hesitate to tell my mom that Helga was the girl. I stared intensely as Helga pulled Justin away from both Matt and Lila, putting her arms protectively around him.

I was completely enchanted through the entire recital. I noticed Helga looking at me from time to time when she had the chance and both Olga, my parents and grandparents nudged at me whenever they noticed her doing that. I didn't care about their teasing though, I was too engulfed in the story. When it was time for Helga to do those fouettes that had made her twist her ankle the last time I saw her doing them, I held my breath. She went through with them with perfect grace though and the audience gasped at the intensity of her dancing.

Once Mytho had his heart restored and Kraehe had realized that he was truly in love with her and Fakir and Tutu had confessed their love as well, the recital was over and the curtains fell. Everyone instantly stood up in their seats and were giving a standing ovation. I heard my grandpa whistling and Helga looked in our direction. She smirked when I whistled as well and I noticed her rolling her eyes in good humor.

After showing our tickets to a sort of bouncer, we were allowed backstage for the cast party. I, along with my family, were searching the crowd for Helga. I pointed at her once my eyes had caught her and I marveled in her beauty. She was wearing a white dress with a big, tulle-filled skirt that went just above her knees. It had a heart-shaped neckline and was decorated with pink marbles down the right side which created a trail of flowers. It looked like a perfect dress to wear after a ballet recital. She was still wearing her Kraehe makeup though so the black eyeliner, dark purple eyeshadow and blood red lips gave her a bit of an edgy look as well.

I told my parents that I would go and get Helga and they stayed dutifully behind. Once I was close enough I could hear her talking to Mademoiselle Pavlova. "I hope you understand my decision." She told the older woman and I stayed back when I saw the serious looks on their faces.

"I have known for a long time that this was what you wanted, Helga." Mademoiselle Pavlova said with her thick Russian accent. "What I don't understand is why it took you so long to take a stand and give it straight to me."

Helga hummed thoughtfully. "I guess I finally realized that I've been a hypocrite. I've told people all my life that they shouldn't let what anyone else thinks matter, but I've let my parents decide this for me my whole life. It's over. I want to make my own decisions from now on. I might start doing ballet again if I miss it, but then it'll be my choice."

Mademoiselle Pavlova smiled and put her hand on Helga's shoulder. "I am very proud of you, Helga. I do hope you'll return to ballet someday. I will miss you and your raw talent. Good luck." She said, patted her shoulder and turned around to walk towards some of her other ballet students.

"You're quitting ballet?" I asked gently and Helga shrieked as she turned around and saw me. "Sorry."

"Stop sneaking up on me." Helga said with a sigh and then nodded to my question. "Yes, I told Mademoiselle Pavlova that this was my last recital. I'm officially done with this world."

I smiled at her. "You don't think you'll regret it?"

"You heard her," Helga said as she gestured towards Pavlova. "if I do change my mind, I can always come back. No harm, no foul."

"Good point." I said and turned to look at my family. "My parents would love to meet you."

"Figures." Helga said and sighed. She cleared her throat and arched her back. "Bring it on."

I snickered as I put my hand on her back, hoping she found it soothing. "Helga, I'd like you to meet my parents, Miles and Stella." I said once we had reached them.

"Nice to meet you." Helga said awkwardly and offered her hand, but both of my parents pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thank you so much." Mom whispered gratefully.

"And for taking such good care of our son as well." Dad added.

"Taking good care? He clearly hasn't told you much about me yet." Helga joked and stepped back awkwardly. She was instantly pulled into a hug by my grandpa and grandma though. "Yeah, yeah, I got you your son back! Enough with the mushiness!"

I grabbed at Helga to pull her away after I noticed that she seemed genuinely uncomfortable with the attention. My family understood the meaning behind my action and started asking her about her ballet instead. I was relieved to see that Helga was talking kindly to them, but she was being herself through the whole conversation. I deeply regretted ever thinking that Helga wasn't the kind of girl to bring home to your parents. She had been feeling as awkward as I thought she would, but she had also handled it absolutely perfectly, never faking her way through the meeting. My parents loved her and my grandparents still thought she had grown into a wonderful woman.

"I need something to drink after all that talking. Come with me, Arnold." Helga said, grabbed my hand and pulled me away from my family. Once we were at the table with drinks, she sighed in relief. "That was more family time than I've ever spent my whole life."

"You did well, Helga." I complimented her and poured a cup of punch for her. She thanked me before gurgling the whole thing. "Where are your parents?"

"Oh, they're here somewhere." Helga replied just before a roaring shout could be heard in the hall. "There's Bob." She declared and turned around to see him come running towards us.

"Helga! What is the meaning of this?! Why did your teacher just tell me that you've decided to quit ballet?!" Bob shouted loudly, earning the attention from everyone in the room.

"Because I finally decided to stop pretending. I don't like ballet, Bob, never have and never will so I decided to quit."

Bob was red with anger. "I haven't spent thousands of dollars on your lessons to have you quit! I forbid it!"

"What are you gonna do to stop me, Bob?! Put string on my ankles and wrists and force me around like a marionette? I'm quitting, get over it!"

"I am _not_ giving you a ride home if you're quitting ballet." Bob said threateningly and crossed his arms. His smirk was screaming that he thought he had won.

"Fine, I'll just spend the night at Arnold's place then." Helga stated casually and cocked her head towards me.

Bob looked between us. "Wait, don't tell me that he's your boyfriend or something? Are you yanking my chain, Helga?! First you quit ballet and now you're dating the orphan boy?!"

"Hey!" Helga shouted warningly and put her cup back on the table behind us. "First of all, if you wanted to have a say in what goes on in my life, you should have been a dad to me! Second of all, Arnold's parents are right over there so he is not an orphan and even if he was, I _forbid you_ to talk about him that way! I am done with this charade, Bob! You and Miriam are not allowed to be here anymore. Diego!" she shouted and the bouncer appeared in the doorframe. "Escort my parents out, please."

Diego looked at Helga in confusion, but he grabbed Miriam gently by the arm anyway. She clearly had no idea what was going on as she gave her glass of wine to my dad who took it in absolute confusion. Diego went to grab Bob as well and he struggled against him, but Diego was much larger than he was and he quickly got both of Helga's parents out of the hall. We could hear Bob's shouting disappear in the distance and the silence in the room was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

Helga frowned and glared warningly at the band who started playing music again as if nothing had happened. People slowly went back to their chatting when they realized that the ordeal was over. Helga sighed and put her hand over her head in frustration. I put my hand on her shoulder and she smiled at me.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your Christmas eve with your family." Helga apologized.

"You haven't ruined anything, Helga. I'm proud of you for standing up to your dad… and thank you for what you said about me as well." I told her honestly. I noticed my family's worried stares, but I just nodded at them with a smile to tell them that it was ok.

"Yeah, thanks, but I have a feeling I'm not gonna be allowed back home for a while." Helga said thoughtfully.

"You can come home to us." I insisted.

"A-Arnold, I didn't say that to Bob to guilt trip you into - - "

"You're spending Christmas with us, Helga." My grandpa insisted as he and the rest of my family approached. "We were going to ask you anyway."

"Really?" Helga asked suspiciously.

"Absolutely!" my mom insisted. "We want to get to know you more, Helga."

Helga looked at them all one-by-one and then a very innocent smile spread on her face. "Thank you." She said in a somewhat timid voice and I couldn't help but kiss her cheek. She was too cute. "But the night is still young and I'm not gonna let Bob ruin the rest of the party! Excuse me while I steal your son for a dance."

I laughed, happy that Helga was already back to her usual self, as she pulled me out on the dancefloor. As I put my hand on her waist, I noticed my grandparents and parents start to dance as well. "You sure you're ok?" I couldn't help but ask as we danced.

"I'm fine. It was bound to happen. I'd rather spend Christmas with you anyway." Helga confessed and gave me a lingering peck. We stopped dancing for a moment to enjoy the kiss, but then we went back to dancing to our heart's extent. "Oh, and just so there's no misunderstandings… I love you too."

I flinched at Helga's words and a wide smile spread on my face. I smirked at her mischievously and twirled her under my arm, forcing her to fall backwards so that I was hovering above her. "I guess I'll go home now." I quoted playfully.

"Don't you dare!" Helga warned in disbelief, but she was laughing as I swung her back up.

We continued dancing for a while before I felt a finger tap me on the shoulder. I turned my head and saw Lila smiling innocently at us. "May I cut in?" she asked.

For a moment, I expected her to take my hands, but she stepped between me and Helga and started dancing with her. Helga laughed in disbelief and I couldn't help but laugh as well. I was so proud of them both tonight honestly. Lila had really come out of her shell and Helga had stood up to her dad and handled her meeting with my parents really well. I stayed leaned up against the wall, smiling whenever Helga smiled in my direction as she danced with Lila and I thought: _So this is happiness_.

 **The end**

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: FYI, I named the bouncer Diego as a hint towards a mobile game I have loved for a long time. It's called "Hollywood U", it's definitely a lot of fun! Diego isn't a big character as such, but he is such a sweetheart! So, yeah, I wanted to honor that game by naming the bouncer Diego :P**

 **It's over! I'm sad and happy and… so many things, ha-ha xD I hope that you enjoyed this story and will hopefully continue to read my new stories or maybe read some of my old ones if you haven't already. To those of you who will be waiting for my next story, just a fair warning: I am starting school again Monday the 17** **th** **so the quick updates you may have gotten accustomed to through the summer will be broken xD Damn school! Ha-ha, but I hope to see some familiar names again in the reviews of my next story. I am looking forward to see the response my next story which will have at least one very different aspect in it than my former stories. Since you have been loyal enough to read this far in this story, I figure you guys deserve a little teaser to my next story and know what exactly the different thing will be.**

 **My next (full) story will be a crossover. I won't say with what yet, but it will be a Hey Arnold! crossover (doi!) It will still focus on Arnold and Helga, of course, but you'll be met with "new" characters from whatever I am going to make a crossover with ;D I hope this has piqued your interest and I will see your name in my review for my next story "Tomboy in a dress". See you next time! :D**


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